


under the same sky

by kynqso



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist Baekhyun, Fluff, Let's all pretend baeksoo are born in the late 1980s, M/M, Romance, Set in 2006-2007, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-26 05:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12052251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kynqso/pseuds/kynqso
Summary: It's what Baekhyun liked to call their story: a love that transcended the summer. Includes but is not limited to: lunchboxes, Thursdays, a wall painting, postcards, and sunrises and sunsets.





	under the same sky

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gonna pass out after this. 
> 
> but anyway, here you go! first of all, i'd like to thank the mods for creating this fest and for being very, very patient and encouraging. i'd also like to thank all the people who made this possible, who cheered me on and believed in me though i've been close to giving up for a few times now. 
> 
> and lastly, to OP, this might be very different from what you expected so i apologize in advance but i hope you, and everyone else, like it despite all its flaws. thank you so much!
> 
> written for prompt #257

Kyungsoo meets Baekhyun the summer of ’06, excited, having just survived second year of college, and missing the comfort of his home.

The slopes of Naksan are gentler and kinder when Kyungsoo comes home. It was a Thursday, he remembers.

It’s a quick seven-minute walk from the lower part of the village to their house, something he used to do everyday, but still always a bit tiring and a pain in the legs somehow due to the steep slopes and multiple staircases. That summer, however, seemed to be kinder to him. It’s as if the hills are welcoming him home with a cool summer kiss as the sky’s colors dip into softer hues that’ll transcend into darker ones later on.

Their sleepy little village—one of the last remaining daldongnae or moon villages in the outskirts of Seoul—offers the prettiest view of the Seoul skyline fading into the wispy horizon. Moon village, because it is said that the height of these hills offer the closest view of the moon, like it’s going to drip dirty white and moon dust on the low, cobbled roofs of the houses any minute.

As a kid, Kyungsoo always thought it did, and that the cobwebs and dust on rusty houses were remnants of the moon’s nightly gifts. A belief stemmed from restless nights from when Kyungsoo was a kid, staring at the cracks in the ceiling or looking out the window at the other houses nearby.

Kyungsoo still thinks it’s beautiful, after all these years, that most of the people in this village don’t have much, if the shanty roofs and dirty, cracked walls are anything to go by, but they have the luxury of having the moon with them so it’s okay. The land developers, however, don’t seem to think that.

So far, everything seems to be alright. No crumpled papers or eviction notices. No packed boxes on porches. No unfamiliar men in flimsy, white button downs or bright construction uniforms walking around. No ghost houses. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to wonder why or think too much about it. They said demolition will start by June but if they’re allowing their village to last a bit more to figure things out, then Kyungsoo isn’t complaining.

“It’ll be alright, don’t worry. We got everything covered,” his mother had said when Kyungsoo called her a few weeks back. He sure hopes so.

The light on their porch is already turned on even though there’s still almost an hour before 6pm and the sun’s still peeking atop the sleek city buildings. His mom must be running the bath, like she does every week before 6pm to soak her tired bones. She usually forgets to turn on the porch lights after taking a bath so she does it before. It’s been a habit of hers, keeping the porch light on every day, ever since Kyungsoo was a kid.

Every time he climbed up these hills, seeing the light always made him run faster, just to reach home quicker.

When he reaches, he drops both his bags on the floor to knock on the door. He idles for a bit, hanging back on his heels, looking at the rough expanses of their house. The walls are cracked, the dirtiest white. The pavement, too, littered with dirt.

When Kyungsoo was little, visiting the city and the pretty suburbs for the first time with his dad, his then tiny hand clasped in his father’s big one, he’d always wondered why they couldn’t have a bigger house. The type he saw on television shows, with its tiled floors and two-storeys and up-to-date appliances. He’d always felt small in their house. Over time, Kyungsoo grew to understand.

He doesn’t care anymore—it’s their very own scrap of fading paint and knitted rugs and flickering lights. The same house his grandparents lived in. Their home that tells a thousand stories.

It takes a whole 10 seconds and two more knocks before the door is cracked open.

By somebody who definitely does not look his mom.

The guy’s eyes widen almost comically when he sees Kyungsoo and he opens the door to _Kyungsoo’s_ house wider. Kyungsoo stares at his pink hair. Bubblegum pink, an unusual color and definitely not one his relatives would dye their hair into. He’s certain he came to the right house, though. “Hello, I’m uh…” the guy blinks, eyes Kyungsoo’s bags, “do you… need help with that?”

Kyungsoo just stares at him.

At that time, his real mom comes from behind the guy and her face lights up. Kyungsoo almost smiles, his hardened eyes softening, relieved. “Kyungsoo!” she chirps with that familiar voice of hers, “what are you standing there for? Don’t act like a guest. Come in!”

Coming home feels great, and he can smell familiar aromas in the air, like that scented candle Seungsoo liked to bring home every winter. There is a box full of them in his mom’s bedroom and it’ll probably last for the next six months.

There are flattened boxes on the side of the living room and Kyungsoo squints at it as he places his bags beside the couch. There are glasses of juice and animal-shaped biscuits on the kitchen table. There’s also an unfamiliar bag on one of the kitchen chairs and a huge notebook on the table which Kyungsoo presumes both belong to the guy.

“Kyungsoo, dear, you’ve met Baekhyun,” his mother says, pointing to the guy—Baekhyun—as she maneuvers around the kitchen to grab another glass for Kyungsoo. “And Baekhyun, you’ve met my college son I told you about.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Baekhyun smiles at him, extending his hand, and two of his fingers are covered in what seems to be ink from colored markers. He retracts his hand when he realizes. “Whoops.” he laughs, a rich sound in Kyungsoo’s ears. “Sorry, I was drawing a while ago. Anyway, it’s good to see you, Kyungsoo-ssi."

“It’s… nice to meet you, too,” Kyungsoo says carefully, slowly, retracting his gaze from Baekhyun’s face, the boy’s grin and eyes too bright, and stares at Baekhyun’s shoes instead. “Baekhyun-ssi.”

“Boys, sit down.” His mother places another glass on the table and pours juice for Kyungsoo. “Here you go, sweetie. You must be tired. Did you take out your laundry?”

“No but my bag’s in the living room. I’m gonna take it out later.”

“Alright, well.” She clasps her hands in front of her, smiling. “You must be wondering what… all this is about.”

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun nibbling a cat-shaped biscuit and stares. The first remarkable thing about him that Kyungsoo notes is his hair which looks like it’s made of bubblegum and dreams and cotton candy. Even the ends are dyed in pink and it’s strange but… fits Baekhyun somehow, like the mischievous and youthful look on his smiling face complements its strangeness.

The second thing is that: his smile. The way it curls up so easily and adds to his boyish quality. The way it comes naturally like things are amusing.

Baekhyun looks up to see him staring and the corner of his lips turn upward, as if amused or wondering why Kyungsoo’s staring at him or something. Kyungsoo blinks, looks away.

“I told you we had everything under control, right?” his mother says, tapping Kyungsoo’s hand resting on the table. “There’s a project underway. It’s called Art in the City. The ministry invited artists to paint and install art in our village. To salvage our village without removing the tradition, they said.”

Kyungsoo stares at the tiger shaped biscuit on the plate.

“Baekhyun is one of those artists. And he’s interested in painting the wall on the small, empty lot beside our house. He just came to talk to me this afternoon.”

“I was one of the few assigned to this part of the village,” Baekhyun says. “I wanted to paint that lonely wall but had to make sure it was okay for the houses nearby. And to ask for opinions of course.”

“Paint,” Kyungsoo echoes.

“Yes, paint.”

“Art... in the city?”

“Yep!” Baekhyun says, smiling. “It’s the name of the project. The theme is mix, connect, and get together.”

“What did the others say about it?”

“Most of them agreed. Another one said he didn’t care because he’s going to move out anyway. And a lady asked me if I’m a Fine Arts student and if I’d do your village justice.”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“A Fine Arts student.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun looks surprised at the question. “Yeah, I… study Visual Communication Design at Hongik University actually. My friend, who is a Fine Arts major too, recommended me to be one of the artists.”

“What did the lady say?”

Baekhyun blinks before laughing, his eyes crinkling at the sides. “She waved me off and told me to just do my best.” He looks at Kyungsoo’s mother and smiles thankfully. “Your mom is very kind. She invited me in and asked me about my plans.”

“What are your plans?”

“Nothing solid yet, admittedly, but…” Baekhyun says, trailing off suddenly when he sees something on the wall. The wall clock, probably. Kyungsoo’s guess is proven right when Baekhyun looks at his wrist watch and mutters something under his breath, immediately starting to pack his notebook and brushes and pencils in his bag. “I’m gonna get there, though. I’m coming back next Thursday to get the dimensions of the wall.”

“Why Thursday?” Kyungsoo can’t stop himself from asking. Baekhyun smiles too much; Kyungsoo asks too much questions.

“Oh, it’s because Thursdays are my day off. Tuesdays too, I guess, because I work M-W-F-S but I decided to just come here during Thursdays. I’ll be coming during Tuesdays too though sometimes.” He smiles then looks at Kyungsoo’s mother. “While I’d hate for the conversation to cut like this, I’m really sorry but I have to go. My mom will be waiting for me. Thank you so much for your time and generosity.”

“Oh, it’s no problem!” she laughs. “I’ll see you next week, alright? Don’t hesitate to come here. We have snacks and refreshments.”

Kyungsoo stares at the paint crusting on Baekhyun’s fingers. Pretty ones, slim and long.

“You don’t have to, really,” Baekhyun ruffles, laughing abashedly, “but thank you! ‘Till next week then.” He stands up, looks at Kyungsoo with a tilted head and a smile. “It’s really nice to meet you, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

Kyungsoo looks at him then gives him a small, careful smile. “You too.”

Baekhyun stops adjusting his bag, then grins. Kyungsoo’s mother walks him to the door. Outside, the porch light has started flickering. Kyungsoo really needs to change it. His mom had been complaining about it for the past month on the phone. The light outside is dimmer now, and the air colder when it rushes in.

He can hear the familiar chorus of crickets, a sound he has gotten used to after all these years. Baekhyun exchanges a few words with Kyungsoo’s mother for a bit, smiling, before trailing his eyes on Kyungsoo, back in the kitchen, and smiling again. It won’t be the last time Kyungsoo’s gonna see or talk to him, surely.

The third remarkable thing that Kyungsoo notes about him is that Baekhyun doesn’t seem like the type that is forgettable, like most people are, no matter how mean it may sound.

There are people you remember only because of their words, or their actions, or a certain, striking part about their face or body. Then there are people you remember because of the way they carry themselves and their presence in general.

Kyungsoo thinks maybe it’s the amused smile or the kind eyes or his aura or his pink hair that makes him stand out. Or maybe it’s Baekhyun himself.

No. It’s definitely the hair, Kyungsoo thinks, scratching his nails on the table. He’s sure. He grabs a biscuit, a dog-shaped one, one of its ears crumbling, and he nibbles on it as he goes to the living room to take out his things. He starts to unpack.

 

Baekhyun does come back the next Thursday and this time, Kyungsoo is on the other side of the door.

It’s a dewy morning, soft light and early morning music and wet asphalt. It rained for a bit earlier on, four hours ago when the sun still wasn’t up, and now the skies are clearing up.

Baekhyun looks the same, just as Kyungsoo remembers him, hair as bright as ever, head peeking at Kyungsoo who hasn’t opened the door all the way just yet. He has just rolled out of bed to answer the door, his mom having gone to the market early in the morning, and he is pretty sure he looks like shit.

“Good morning,” Baekhyun greets. “My friends and I decided to come here for a bit to scan the perimeter, like the others have been doing for the past week. They’re on different parts of the village and I’m alone and I… just wanted to ask if there’s a hardware store nearby? Or somewhere I can buy materials in?”

Kyungsoo has to clear his throat a few times, voice still laced with sleep. “The nearest one, I think, is at the very foot of the village. A wooden shack with ugly, red fading paint. Not sure.” Kyungsoo clears his throat again. “You should ask around more. Who knows, one of my neighbors might be glad to sell you materials or whatever.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows. “Alright then, thank you!”

It’s brief, their encounter. Kyungsoo doesn’t sleep more after that. He washes his face, stares at his hands on the sink, before deciding to go ahead and shower. The room is cold when he walks outside and ten minutes later, his mother still hasn’t come home. He looks fresh and much more awake when he opens the door the second time for Baekhyun who’s once again knocking on the door in a rhythmic manner.

“Hi,” Baekhyun chirps when Kyungsoo opens, stopping to look at Kyungsoo’s wet hair and face before smiling again. “You look less like a zombie and much more like a person now.”

Kyungsoo slams the door to his face.

“What th—was that too much? Kyungsoo-sshi!” he hears Baekhyun say, his voice ruffled by the door between them but still very loud nevertheless. “I’m really sorry! I was just kidding! I just wanted to break the ice! I’m sorry!”

When Kyungsoo opens the door a minute later, Baekhyun is still standing outside, mouth open most probably to shout again.

Kyungsoo deadpans, “What do you want?”

“I’m really sorry,” Baekhyun blurts out. “It was a joke.”

“Do you need anything, Baekhyun-ssi?” Kyungsoo raises his eyebrow.

“Oh um, actually I wanted to ask if I… could use the telephone? I have to call somebody and my phone’s fucking up and not getting any signal,” Baekhyun says, rubbing his nape, letting out an embarrassed laugh. “It’s okay though, if you don’t…”

“The telephone is at the hall on the right.” Kyungsoo sighs. “Come in.”

Baekhyun squints at him. “Do you forgive me now?”

“Just get in.”

Kyungsoo notes how Baekhyun wipes the dirt off his shoes on the mat and neatly places his cuffed sneakers beside Kyungsoo’s black ones next to the door, like he knows Kyungsoo would appreciate that kind of action. Baekhyun looks at him again and Kyungsoo points down the hallway. “Thank you,” Baekhyun says, grinning unsurely. “I’m going to make it quick.”

Kyungsoo goes to the kitchen, feet curling because of the cold floor. There are sad-looking glass noodles in a bowl sitting on the side. He takes it out to reheat them in a pot and sets the bowl aside to look for ingredients and possible additions to the sad mix of small meat and onion and carrots. He finds mushrooms and spinach and more sauce. He takes them all out.

As he cuts the vegetables, he vaguely hears Baekhyun talking on the phone, his faint laughter echoing throughout the house. If Kyungsoo listens hard enough, he can hear a bit of the conversation. He must be talking to a family member, given the formal way Baekhyun is talking and their topic being coming to visit his grandmother this summer.

He wonders where Baekhyun is from and why he volunteered or even agreed in this project. He continues cooking. Baekhyun stays on the phone for about four minutes or so before everything goes quiet, until only the sound of the pot boiling is loud in his ears.

“Kyungsoo-ssi?” Baekhyun peeks his head in the kitchen a minute later. “Oh, there you are.”

Kyungsoo briefly looks at Baekhyun before proceeding to mix the sauce.

“I’m… going to leave now,” Baekhyun says. “Thank you for letting me use the phone.”

He hears his mother’s voice in his mind, telling him to be polite and to not let a guest leave without offering food. He also remembers his mother telling him last night to make sure the snacks and refreshments are always ready on the table if Baekhyun or any other artist decides to drop by. He sighs, stopping from mixing the sauce. “Have you even eaten breakfast yet, Baekhyun-ssi?” he asks.

The noodles will be ready in a few minutes. Now, where’d he last seen those sesame seeds?

“I ate some sandwich on the bus on my way here,” Baekhyun says. “And I drank vitamin too, I guess? So…”

“Proper breakfast, I mean,” Kyungsoo says, eyes scanning the cabinets. “Please sit down. The noodles will be ready in a few minutes.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen for a bit. “Oh no, no, you don’t need to, really—“

“Please.” Kyungsoo sighs. “My mother would kill me if she found out I didn’t feed you and well, I can’t finish this all on my own.”

Baekhyun hesitates, standing in the threshold of the kitchen before his body yields, walking in naturally. “Okay then,” he says, and he sounds really thankful. “Thank you, really. You didn’t have to.”

They stay in silence for a few minutes and Kyungsoo can feel Baekhyun’s eyes on him as he moves around the kitchen, poking the noodles, adding in vegetables, taking out bowls and plates and chopsticks. Baekhyun is the first to break the silence.

“How old are you, Kyungsoo-ssi? Your mother told me you were in college but she never really specified how old you were.”

Kyungsoo turns to look at Baekhyun, tapping on the countertop. “I’ll be in my 3rd year now when classes resume. I just turned 21 this year.”

“Oh! Me too.” Baekhyun grins. “I’ll be in my 3rd year too. I’m 22 years old. I’m older than you.”

Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows. “When’s your birthday?”

“May 6. How about yours?”

“January 12.” He turns around and lifts the lid, grabbing a bowl and chopsticks to take out the noodles. “You can drop the formalities now, by the way. Since we’re the same age anyway.” He makes a face. “Almost.”

“Okay, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says, almost happily.

When he places the noodles on the table and they both dig in, Baekhyun compliments his cooking extravagantly that makes Kyungsoo almost want to bury his face in the noodles. “It’s just noodles,” he says, shaking his head, ears red.

“Exactly!” Baekhyun says. “Yet you make it taste great and amazing and not plain.”

Kyungsoo shushes him and tells him to keep quiet and to just keep eating.

They get into mixed conversations after that, with Baekhyun leading most of them. They talk about art installations and Seoul skyscrapers and college majors. Baekhyun smiles and pays too much attention when Kyungsoo tells him about the village, the gritty alleys, cracked pavements, and hidden hangout places. Just because Baekhyun asked.

He talks and listens like he’s genuinely interested. And Kyungsoo doesn’t realize that they’ve already finished all the noodles yet they’re still sitting in the kitchen.

“How are your plans, by the way?” Kyungsoo asks, not wanting to talk more about him, discreetly directing the conversation to focus on Baekhyun instead, fixing his chopsticks on the bowl.

“I’m gonna do a rough sketch tomorrow or tonight,” Baekhyun says. “I think I kind of have an idea now what I want it to look like.”

“What do you want it to look like?”

Baekhyun blinks at him before smiling. “I’ll show you next week. You’re not leaving some time soon, are you?”

Kyungsoo sets the bowls straight. “I’m always here.”

They stand up a few minutes later and Baekhyun insists he does the dishes so Kyungsoo allows him. He hangs back on the kitchen, eyeing Baekhyun warily, sweeping the floor. Baekhyun, as expected, talks while washing the dishes so Kyungsoo doesn’t leave the kitchen just yet even when he finishes sweeping the floor and cleaning the table, just stands around and listens to Baekhyun and offers small replies here and there.

“I’m genuinely curious,” Baekhyun starts. “Why do most of the people here choose to stay despite everything? I mean, it’s amazing how this village have survived, after all these years.”

Kyungsoo wipes his hand on the kitchen towel. He thinks back to years and years of the same families and same set of faces, people coming and going but always coming back to visit. He thinks of the close-knit community, the quiet comfort, the familiar low-roofs and fading paint of each house.

“Other than most of them having no choice?” Kyungsoo licks his lips. “It’s… not really just a place to squat in anymore. Somehow, these slums have evolved into a home and a tight-knit community. Almost everyone here knows everyone and we help one another. It’s the familiarity.” He digs his toe on the floor. “You like coming home to your family, don’t you? It’s the same for us, except our family includes the whole community itself.”

Baekhyun is quiet for a while. “That’s…” he shakes his head. “That’s amazing, really. I really hope this project turns out to be successful.”

Kyungsoo shrugs. He picks up one of the plates and helps him wipe the dishes, holding the dishcloth in his hand. They work in silence for a while, the sound of running tap water and Baekhyun’s soft humming resonating throughout the house. Kyungsoo thinks he’s humming one of the new pop songs that new group Super Junior had just recently released. He isn’t sure. He thinks he heard it playing on the radio once last week.

When they finish, Kyungsoo walks with Baekhyun to the door and after a bit of small talk, Baekhyun stops to look at him. “I promise to do my best. I really do hope this project helps, Kyungsoo,” he says with a genuine smile.

Baekhyun looks surprised, and his eyes light up more, when Kyungsoo smiles back.

“It already did,” Kyungsoo says, and he finds that he is earnest, thinking back to the people and the families who finally got their smiles back. To his mother. It’s starting to get too warm today, he thinks. “It lifted the people’s hopes up.”

Outside, foot traffic is already underway on the steep staircases of their village, people either going to the market or walking to one of their neighbor’s houses. He thinks he sees Sehun’s mother walking outside with a plate of sandwiches, ready to give it to anyone.

Baekhyun thanks him and tells him he’s going to look for materials now. He looks at Kyungsoo one last time, before walking away, ducking under low roofs and walls. The sun’s already peeking from the clouds, bright and big and shining, a huge reminder that it’s a start of a new day.

 

The first time Kyungsoo climbed up to this part of the village, he had just turned eighteen and he, Chanyeol, and Sehun had brought cans of soju to drink in the shade, up in the hills where they can see the houses’ colorful roofs and the city skyline.

Sehun was still underage and admittedly, they might have allowed him to drink a can or two but not any more. They’d talked and laughed in the shade until night fell and Yura—Chanyeol’s sister—had to look for them. Kyungsoo found out Chanyeol had been dismissed to cleaning duty after that. Sehun was given a curfew. Kyungsoo’s mother, however, was more relenting.

“Just don’t do it again,” she’d sighed. He’d watered the plants for her for a week straight after that.

However, despite this, the place became their favorite hang out place and they liked going up there to just talk.

The air is cool around him as he sits on the lone and almost broken bench sitting on a poorly-kept patch of grass that pool around his ankles. He had visited Chanyeol earlier on and Chanyeol had excitedly shown the rough sketches of an artwork one of the artists is planning to paint on the outside walls of their house.

It’s amazing really, how this project had brought people to life. He hadn’t seen the effect in the first week, and Kyungsoo had found out they were one of the firsts to know. People were walking around, pensive, hesitantly taking out boxes of things, talking to each other quietly, a sad goodbye. The sudden glimmer of hope in the people’s eyes when it was announced was a heart-warming sight. Almost immediately, the village was thrumming back to life and their neighbors were smiling again.

A number of the artists had come to gather the third day in the first week but Kyungsoo noticed Baekhyun with his pink hair had not been around. Then on, his mother rambled on about Baekhyun and his major and his job. It’s not like Kyungsoo had asked but he took in the information anyway. Baekhyun was someone he’d see for the next three months or so. Might as well get to know him more.

Besides, Baekhyun made a promise, didn’t he? He’s holding on to that.

He stares out into the city, and the clouds overcast rolling by. The Seoul skyscrapers look like they’re hanging from the sky, the sun reflecting rays on its glory, and Kyungsoo allows himself to breathe in the sight. A new picture of a future in his head.

There’s always something new to appreciate every day, after all.

 

“You look like you’re dressed for distress,” Kyungsoo says.

“Kyungsoo!” His mother gapes. “Don’t be mean. Baekhyun looks handsome no matter what he wears.”

Baekhyun just laughs, adjusting the straps of his jumper as he walks in, greeting Kyungsoo’s mother politely and Kyungsoo with a crooked grin. He’s not being mean, it’s just an observation.

He looks kind of silly, Kyungsoo thinks, like one of those 90s boy groups dancing and jumping around in amusement parks. His pink hair isn’t necessarily messy but some of the strands sit on his hair like he’d just rolled out of bed and finger-combed his hair on the way here. If people wore silly denim jumpers to sleep, that is.

Still, Kyungsoo looks at him and thinks he looks… the look suits him. For someone who resembles stereotypical art students or stressed college students dressed like walking disasters, he looks much more decent at least.

“I’m going to start painting the wall white today,” Baekhyun says. “So that it looks neat. I wanted to dress for the occasion.”

“Sure, okay.” Kyungsoo almost snorts.

They sit on the couch side by side as Kyungsoo’s mother grabs glasses and refreshments from the kitchen. “I have my plans with me today,” Baekhyun says, taking out something from his bag. “It’s subject to change though. But for now—“

“Iced tea?”

“Oh. Yes, please.” Baekhyun looks up and smiles politely at Kyungsoo’s mother. “Thank you.”

By the time they’re all seated and sipping on their ice teas, Baekhyun is already flipping open his notebook, furrowing his eyebrows. “It’s still a bit messy,” he says. “I just did the rough sketch yesterday and like I told you, it’s still subject to change so…”

He places the notebook on the table and clasps his hands together, placing his elbows on his knees. Kyungsoo takes the notebook and his mother curiously peeks over his shoulder.

The drawing seems likely what Baekhyun would make. It seems like a strangle doodle at first but up close Kyungsoo can see the way each object is drawn, skillfully so, like every line and stroke meant something. He realizes that the drawing depicts life in their village: a lone crescent moon, a small village sitting on its hook, and random, smiling, inanimate objects floating on the side. He runs his hand through the smooth pads of the paper, staring.

“I accept suggestions,” Baekhyun says, licking his lips. “It’s not gonna take up the whole wall because if I make it too big, it’s going to be hard and I only have the whole summer with me to paint it so yeah.” He looks at both Kyungsoo and his mother. “How… is it?”

“It’s a village on the moon,” Kyungsoo says. “A moon… village.” He stares at the drawing again.

“Yeah.” Baekhyun laughs softly. “Moon village. You got it. I did a bit of research about it and I wanted to make a play on the name. There are some details I liked about the village in the drawing that aren’t finished yet so you can’t really see it now but it’ll be there.”

“It’s beautiful, Baekhyunnie,” Kyungsoo’s mother speaks up after a while with a bright grin. “It’s going to be the prettiest artwork in the village.”

Baekhyun laughs again, and Kyungsoo can see the flush in his cheeks. “There are tons of other great artists out here,” he says.

“And you’re one of them,” she says, reaching over to pat Baekhyun’s knee. “You’re gonna do great, Baekhyun-ah. It’s beautiful.”

“Is it really?” Baekhyun says and Kyungsoo knows he’s not talking to his mother anymore, he’s looking over at Kyungsoo discreetly, waiting. Kyungsoo looks at the artwork and looks at Baekhyun.

“It is,” he says, voice firm.

Baekhyun’s face lights up and he smiles, bright as ever.

They stay in the living room for a few more minutes, with Baekhyun asking questions about the village, talking about his plans, and politely laughing at Kyungsoo’s mother’s remarks.

It’s an early afternoon, only an hour past noon, and the sun is still shining bright outside. He thinks Baekhyun’s going to faint due to the heat if he decides to paint outside at this time. He heard from his mom that several artists have been going around ever since this morning and he wonders if most of them are staying until late afternoon or the evening. He wonders where most of them came from and if they travel a long way here almost every day.

Baekhyun leaves after almost 10 minutes. Kyungsoo stays holed up in his room after that, cleaning some of his things, ignoring his classmates’ texts, and occasionally going out to the kitchen to eat. His mother sees him out in his room once and tells Kyungsoo to water the plants or maybe go check on Baekhyun instead of sitting around.

“Tell him and his friend to just come inside if they’re hungry. We’ve got snacks,” his mother says, pushing him gently to the door. “Also, if the juice needs refilling make sure to bring the pitcher back in.”

“He has a friend with him?” Kyungsoo asks but his mother is already pushing him out the door. Kyungsoo sighs.

He walks down the steps. When he turns on the empty lot, he sees Baekhyun holding a brush, talking to a guy just as tall as him, wearing a catty grin. There are newspapers sprawled on the floor and almost half of the wall is already painted white, glimmering under the afternoon sun.

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun says, smiling when he sees Kyungsoo. “Hey, what brought you outside?”

“Just coming to refill the refreshments,” Kyungsoo says, looking at the almost empty pitcher, some of its moisture pooling around it. “My mom wants me to tell you guys that if you want snacks, you’re free to come inside.”

“Oh no, we’re fine, thank you!” Baekhyun says, looking at his friend. “We’re just gonna finish this in a bit. By the way, Kyungsoo, this is my friend Kim Jongdae.”

“Hello.” Jongdae smiles, cheekbones rising and the corner of his lips visibly curled up. “It’s very nice to meet you, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“Just Kyungsoo is fine, thank you,” Kyungsoo says. “It’s nice to meet you too. Are you an artist too?”

Jongdae laughs. “I’m not. Baekhyun just wanted to bring me here,” he says. “It seems apparent now that he only did because he needs help from a friend painting the wall.”

Kyungsoo watches the way Jongdae playfully nudges Baekhyun, and Baekhyun laughs. Their interaction seems natural, comfortable in the way friends of many years are. He can see why they’d be close friends. Their smiles bounce off each other easily.

“So you’re not the Fine Arts friend?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Fine Arts friend?” Jongdae raises his eyebrow in amusement. “I’m not,” he says, “that’s Yixing-hyung you’re talking about. I’m just the good friend.”

“The best friend,” Baekhyun affirms.

“I’m just gonna take this,” he says, smiling at them a bit, grabbing the pitcher. “I’ll be back.”

When Kyungsoo comes back, Baekhyun and Jongdae are bickering, voices loud. Kyungsoo quietly places the juice on the table and they both look at him.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun smiles, wiping a painted hand down his denim jumpers. Kyungsoo frowns at that. Surely Baekhyun brought spare clothes he can change into?

“Can you recommend us good routes to take for sightseeing, Soo? Jongdae and I are planning to go around after this.”

 _Soo._ That’s new. Kyungsoo brushes off the nickname and racks his brain for good places to go to.

“Um, you can climb up Naksan Park if you want,” Kyungsoo says, now watching Baekhyun paint the wall white. “It’s a good walk and it offers a beautiful view of Seoul. There’s also the university street nearby. There’s not much to see in this village admittedly, unless you’re interested in the architecture of old-style homes that is.”

“Ooh, university street. You mean Daehangno?” Baekhyun says; Kyungsoo nods. “That’s a promising idea. Heard there are plenty of cute cafes and food places down there.”

“Yeah, my friend’s family owns one,” Kyungsoo says off-handedly. “It’s a small café somewhere along the busy streets.”

“Where is it located? What’s the name?” Jongdae asks.

He blurts it out before thinking. “I could take you there.” He pauses. “I guess, if you don’t mind.” He thinks back to the empty walls of his room and his mom’s quiet doting for him to get out of his room. He thinks of the last time he actually visited the café. He thinks of the food and company he misses.

“Really?” Jongdae says, smiling. “We’d love it if you come with us. I mean, we’re not forcing you or anything but…”

“Yeah, no big deal.” Kyungsoo shrugs. “It’s been months since I last came down anyway. Chanyeol has been inviting me the past week.”

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun briefly looks at him, before continuing to paint the wall.

“Yeah, he’s the friend I told you about,” Kyungsoo says. “He helps his mom run the café sometimes. Especially now during the summer.”

Baekhyun hums. “So you’re coming with us? It’s okay with you, right?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, scratching his cheek. “When are you gonna finish?”

“By 6 I think we’re already done,” Jongdae says. “So you have plenty of free time for now.”

The last time Kyungsoo checked, it’s past three in the afternoon. “Alright then,” Kyungsoo says. “Just knock on the door when you’re finished. I’m going inside now to help my mom pick the vegetables.” Before he turns his on his heels, he lightly tugs on Baekhyun’s sleeve. “By the way, you have spare clothes right, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun stops painting, looking at Kyungsoo’s hand, then him. “I—what?”

“Spare clothes. Clothes to change into? Your jumper and shirt is dirty,” Kyungsoo says, letting go, still looking at the jumper. “If you need to borrow clothes, just tell me. We’re almost the same size anyway.”

“I—“ Baekhyun blinks at him. “Uh, okay.”

Kyungsoo turns on his heels and walks back inside the house, stepping on a few newspapers along the way, leaving Baekhyun and Jongdae to paint.

 

When they walk inside the café that night, he sees Chanyeol behind the counter and his face brightens, smile wide and voice loud when he speaks. A few customers look up but continue on with their business after a few seconds.

“Kyungsoo-yah!” Chanyeol grins with a thousand teeth. “I was wondering when you’d come down!”

“Is that Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol’s mother peeks her head from the kitchen and she grins. “Kyungsoo, sweetie, I missed you! It’s good you decided to come down!”

“I missed you too, mom.” Kyungsoo laughs, as they walk to sit on a table near the counter. “It’s been a long time. By the way, these are Baekhyun and Jongdae.” He turns to the two and points to them. Baekhyun brought spare clothes, thankfully, and he changed into a clean pair of jeans and a white shirt. He looks good, Kyungsoo thinks off-handedly, an observation, and he looks kind of different tonight. Fresh. With his pink hair brighter than his outfit. He watches Baekhyun and Jongdae simultaneously greet and bow.

“Making friends without me, I see?” Chanyeol says, now walking to their direction. “It’s very nice to meet you two. I’m Park Chanyeol, Kyungsoo’s best friend.” He extends his hand to their direction.

“Self-proclaimed best friend.” Kyungsoo smiles, shaking his head. “By the way, Baekhyun is one of the artists in the village. Jongdae is his friend.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Baekhyun says, shaking Chanyeol’s hand. “We were excited to come here.” He looks at Chanyeol’s mother with a smile. “Kyungsoo says you make the best food.”

She smiles at Kyungsoo teasingly. “Kyungsoo just says that because he wants free food.”

“Whoop, exposed,” Baekhyun teases, and they all laugh.

Chanyeol’s mother tells them not to worry and that she’ll bring out Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s favourite food for them. They talk as they wait and Kyungsoo observes that the three have the same sense of humor and fit well together, their laughter rising above the café’s busy atmosphere and quiet chatter.

They all tease Kyungsoo when they find out he’s the youngest and Kyungsoo kicks Baekhyun on the shin for starting it. Baekhyun grins at him and locks their ankles together to stop Kyungsoo from kicking him. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him but he doesn’t move his feet, doesn’t untangle their ankles quite yet, just keeps it there even when Baekhyun looks at him half in question and half in amusement. He finds that he doesn’t mind tonight, he’s used to stuff like this, it’s normal. He doesn’t mind. They talk about soju and the moon villages left in Seoul and live music performances at the Marronnier Park during weekends and _maybe we can catch one after this_. They also talk about the art project for their village.

“Baekhyun, are you planning to paint the wall near Kyungsoo’s house?” Chanyeol asks, wrapping meat in lettuce.

“Yeah, I was assigned to that part of the village. I thought the wall would be a perfect place,” Baekhyun says. “If I finish early maybe I could help my friend, Yixing-hyung, with art installations too near the place.”

“Yixing.” Chanyeol furrows his eyebrows. “I think I’ve heard of him. He does art installations?”

“Yeah, sculpture and all that practical stuff. Maybe you’ve seen a dimpled guy walking around the village? He is friends with all the other art students so maybe you’ve heard his name at one point.”

“Oh, yeah, I think I’ve seen him once,” Chanyeol says, humming around his _ssam_. Kyungsoo shakes his head at him. “Not sure. Point him to me the next time we walk around and see him.”

The night ascends and soon enough, young people are already filing outside, a lively crowd against the backdrop of unique-looking and colorful establishments. Chanyeol’s mother never fails to make the best food and she gives each of them meals in pretty lunchboxes to take home, handing Kyungsoo an extra one for his mom (“Tell her to visit soon!”). They place the lunchboxes in Baekhyun’s bag for the mean time.

“Make sure to bring me back the lunchboxes.” She smiles. “I gave them to you so that you surely have to come back the next time. Chanyeol seems to get along well with you guys.”

“We surely will come back.” Jongdae smiles. “Thank you so much!”

When they walk outside, the air is cool and various shops already have their signs blinking and turned on. It’s like a muted version of Hongdae, the lights and signage blinking quietly and the crowd not as thick as Hongdae’s but both are still as pretty nevertheless. Chanyeol suggests they continue on with their plan and they all walk to the park, sated and happy, fond of the new friendship formed just tonight.

“Thanks for bringing us here,” Baekhyun says from beside him. Kyungsoo just shrugs, giving him a small smile, digging his hands inside his pockets.

“Have you lived in Ihwa-dong all your life?” Baekhyun speaks up again.

Kyungsoo hums. “Not really,” he says. “We were from Goyang. We transferred there when I was… four years old I think? When my dad passed away.” He moves his fringes away from his eyes. “We lived with my grandmother there. It used to be old and rickety but we had it renovated and done after grandma’s death.”

“Your mom didn’t want to move out?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “She loves it there. And she works at an art gallery here in Daehangno so it’s alright. There’s no hassle of commuting.”

“Oh right, I remember she told me she took Art History in college,” Baekhyun says. “You have a brother right?” Kyungsoo nods. “He relocated to Seoul?”

“Yup, he lives in an apartment with his girlfriend,” he says, “but he still visits from time to time.” Kyungsoo pauses, curious. “Do you have any siblings?”

“I do,” Baekhyun says. “An older brother. His name is Baekbeom.”

“Where are you from?”

“From Bucheon. Why?” Baekhyun grins. “Are you planning to visit me?”

Kyungsoo snorts but the corner of his lips lifts up. “Do you have dogs there?”

“Well—“ Baekhyun starts, “my dog is with my grandma now, admittedly, in Gangwon-do, but—“

“Then no, I’m not gonna visit you there.”

“I’m not finished!”

Kyungsoo laughs as Baekhyun complains. They walk past shops and small alleys showcasing night markets. Chanyeol and Jongdae are engaged in a passionate conversation about Gameboy Color games from beside them. It’s been months since Kyungsoo walked these streets and it feels good, going out this once, allowing himself to taste the youthfulness of the night, the start of summer in the air.

Luckily, when they arrive, there are buskers already standing around, preparing their equipment, some already entertaining and talking to the crowd. Somewhere in the distance, he hears the first tune fall, and one of the guitarists starts strumming. The sound is clear in his ears. There’s soft, distant music in the air, probably from speakers in shops nearby or another busker on the other side of the park but Kyungsoo focuses on this one. A familiar song, something he used to listen to back in high school, the tune now a comfort to him. The starting chords pull in his veins and naturally, his feet gravitate to the center of the park, where the music lies. Kyungsoo can feel the other three walking behind him, catching up.

“It’s good, some performances are just starting,” Chanyeol says to them with a grin when they stop behind the sudden crowd forming in the center. “But I’m going to buy ice cream first, for desert, anyone coming with me?”

Kyungsoo waves him off and continues walking to the source of the music. He thinks he hears Chanyeol say something, about meeting up somewhere but Kyungsoo doesn’t hear, cutting through the sudden small crowd of people. He’s not gonna lose them, he has his phone with him so they can just text him. Besides, he’s just going to listen to this one song…

He hangs back, listening to the song, as more people stop to watch. He taps his feet, humming softly.

“Do you know this song?” a voice says, close to his ear and he almost jumps in surprise. When he looks, it’s Baekhyun standing next to him. Baekhyun smiles.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites,” Kyungsoo says. He sings the lyrics under his breath, remembering it all though it’s been years since he actually last listened to it. He remembers sitting out the porch alone, humming the song under his breath, and getting excited when it plays on the radio. It’s strangely comforting, somehow.

“Hey.” Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun. “Why didn’t you go with them?”

“They were already gone when I turned,” Baekhyun says. “Besides, I’m already full.”

“Where are we gonna meet up?”

“Somewhere near the benches near the shops.” Baekhyun buries hands in his pockets. “Chanyeol says we should just find them.”

“With Chanyeol’s height, surely we won’t lose him,” Kyungsoo smirks. Baekhyun laughs at that.

They listen to a few more songs and watch a couple more performances, the night still young, the atmosphere buzzing around them. They stay until it feels like they’ve already been there for more than an hour. Baekhyun whispers comments to Kyungsoo occasionally and asks Kyungsoo the title of some songs. He also sings along to a few and laughs when he gets the lyrics wrong. Kyungsoo is distracted. Baekhyun is a very distractive person, with his almost restless habits and comments. Their shoulders are touching now, their elbows pressed to a kiss, even though the thick crowd has long dispersed, only a few people staying to listen to the last few songs. Baekhyun pulls on Kyungsoo’s wrist softly after what seems like the tenth performance. The touch pulls Kyungsoo out of his reverie.

“We should go,” he says, voice low against the loud music, the strumming of the guitar, the beating of the rhythm, but still loud in Kyungsoo’s ear nevertheless. Kyungsoo blinks at him. “Chanyeol and Jongdae are probably already waiting for us.”

Baekhyun doesn’t let go of his wrist the whole time as they look for Chanyeol and Jongdae, and they finally resort to texting them in the end. Chanyeol responds in a few minutes and they see Chanyeol and Jongdae at the outskirts of the park where the cobblestones meet the busy, asphalt streets.

“What took you so long?” Chanyeol demands. “You guys were gone for almost an hour.”

“We got too caught up in the performances, sorry,” Kyungsoo says. “Did you even watch any?

“Of course we did!” Chanyeol says.

“Chanyeol almost wanted to borrow the guy’s guitar and perform.” Jongdae laughs.

“You play the guitar?” Baekhyun asks.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, then looks at Kyungsoo. “Kyungsoo used to perform in our high school and in my mom’s café back then.”

“You sang.” Baekhyun grins at Kyungsoo. “I knew you could. I could hear your voice beside me.”

Kyungsoo shrugs, a bit embarrassed. “It was something I liked to do. Chanyeol always brought me along.”

More people come out, unsurprisingly, as the night goes on. It’s thirty minutes past eight when they decide to go home. Chanyeol and Baekhyun and Jongdae are loud, chattering and laughing, as they walk on the busy streets. They realize the bus stop is already close so they stop for a while to say their goodbyes. “So, it was really nice meeting you, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.” Jongdae grins. “I’ll make sure to come back next time.”

“You literally were just complaining about me dragging you to the village this afternoon.” Baekhyun laughs, teasing Jongdae. “What’s with the sudden change of heart?”

“I met new friends better than you,” Jongdae retorts.

“Why you—you’re such a punk!” Baekhyun pushes him, indignant, and Jongdae almost falls off balance. They all laugh when Jongdae whines, his loud voice echoing throughout the street. A few people send them dirty looks but ultimately decide to ignore them.

“So this is good bye,” Baekhyun says. “Good night. Thank you again. And Chanyeol, please tell your mother if I could marry her cooking, I would.”

Chanyeol laughs. “Tell her that yourself when you come back.”

“I will.” Baekhyun grins. “See you next Thursday, then.”

“See you,” Kyungsoo says, smiling back. Jongdae waves at them before they turn their backs, walking to the bus stop. They are already a few steps away when Kyungsoo remembers something.

“Baekhyun!”

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun stop, and Baekhyun looks surprised at Kyungsoo’s voice. He looks at Kyungsoo, furrowing his eyebrows when he sees Kyungsoo walking to him. “Wha—“

“My lunchbox,” Kyungsoo says, his lips quirking up. “You forgot to give it back to me.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun’s eyes widen. He slings his bag to his front and scavenges through it. “Right. Yeah, it’s a good thing you remembered.”

When Baekhyun hands it to him, Kyungsoo says, “See you next Thursday. Again.”

“Thursday. Yeah,” Baekhyun says. “Or you can visit me this weekend in Bucheon, if you want.”  Kyungsoo snorts, lightly punches his shoulder. He walks to Chanyeol, finally walking up the hill. He hears Baekhyun say from behind him, “I have a dog!”

Kyungsoo looks back, sees Baekhyun smiling at the distance. He just shakes his head, laughing softly, the night finally descending.

 

It’s two days later when Baekhyun calls in their house phone.

It’s already past nine, and his mother is in the shower after a whole busy day. Kyungsoo walks out of his room to answer, the ringing resonating in the hallway, and he doesn’t recognize Baekhyun’s voice at first.

“Who is this?”

“It’s Baekhyun.” And then Kyungsoo recognizes Baekhyun’s laugh through the phone.

“Baekhyun, hey,” he says, surprised. “How’d you know this number?”

“Your mom gave it to me before,” Baekhyun says. “If I ever need to call, she said.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo says. “Well then, what made you call? Are you looking for my mom? Because if so, she’s in the shower right now and can’t come to the phone.”

“I’m not,” Baekhyun hums. “Not really. Just wanted to ask you a question.”

“Um?” Kyungsoo says. “Go ahead, I guess?”

“What’s your favorite place in Ihwa-dong?”

Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows. “My favorite place?”

“Yeah, like”—Kyungsoo can imagine Baekhyun gesticulating with his hands—“your favorite hang out place with your friends, or your favorite spot, or that memorable place you first kissed your girlfriend at—“

“Woah there,” Kyungsoo says, leaning back on the wall. “Who says anything about me having a girlfriend?”

“Have you never had one?”

“Well, she wasn’t my girlfriend,” Kyungsoo says, thinking back to the transfer student Seungwan back in 11th grade. “We were close and we kissed twice but we never really dated.”

“Boyfriend then?”

Kyungsoo almost chokes on air. “No, I”—he clears his throat—“I’ve never had one.”

Baekhyun doesn’t comment on Kyungsoo not saying he didn’t not want to have one, just simply denied he ever had one. He also doesn’t comment on Baekhyun’s casual questioning. He just listens to Baekhyun hum, imagining him nodding through the phone.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Well? What’s your favorite place?”

“Oh, right,” Kyungsoo coughs. “I don’t really have—wait hey, why are you asking this? At”—he looks at the wall clock—“9:32 in the evening, of all times?”

“Why, what’s wrong with asking questions at 9:32 in the evening?”

“9:33 now,” Kyungsoo says, staring at the clock across the wall. “Nothing, you’re just… strange and surprising.”

Baekhyun laughs. “Yeah, I’ve been called that many times.” He says. “So? Favorite place?”

Kyungsoo sighs. “Fine. Well, let’s see.” The picture of a lone bench comes to his mind, the scenic view of Seoul far off. “There’s this… place I like to go to. I don’t go there often admittedly but, whenever I do, I feel very comfortable.”

“Mhm,” Baekhyun says. “Where is this? What does it look like?”

“It’s um, how do I say this.” Kyungsoo idly taps his feet on the wall. “Not really a park but, kind of like that but very small. It’s somewhere up in the hills, nearing Naksan Park.”

“A park, hm."

“Yeah, but the place hasn’t been cared for and it’s been years. Broken benches, tall grass, the view of Seoul,” he says. “Why do you ask, by the way?”

“Oh, you know. Just because.” He pictures Baekhyun shrugging. “I want to see the place.” He pauses. “Can I? Or is it kind of like a private thing for you—“

“No, no, it’s fine,” he says. “I’ve brought my friends there a few times already. We go there to just talk. It’s fine. Quite a climb though?”

“That’s fine,” Baekhyun says. “I don’t mind. I’m the one who asked, anyway.” Kyungsoo picks at the telephone wire, their conversation pausing for a while. “Don’t you want to ask me a question too?”

“Oh, so we’re asking questions now?” Kyungsoo laughs. “Fine, Bucheon boy, what about you? What’s your favorite place?”

“My grandma’s house.” Kyungsoo didn’t expect the answer and the sincerity coating Baekhyun’s voice. “I miss her and the mountains and Mongryeong. I’m glad I get to visit her this week. I’m leaving tomorrow and I’ll be coming back on Tuesday. I’m taking Monday off.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Kyungsoo says. “Who’s Mongryong?”

“Oh, that’s the name of my dog.” Baekhyun laughs. “Mongryong-ie, my adorable pup. I hope she and my grandma are doing well.”

“They probably are,” Kyungsoo says. “Don’t worry. Have fun this weekend!”

“Thank you, Soo.” There it goes again, the nickname. Kyungsoo doesn’t mind though. “Have you eaten dinner?”

“Yep. Mom finally visited Chanyeol’s mom’s cafe and she brought home dinner for us,” Kyungsoo says.

“Ah, I’m jealous! It’s only been two days and I already miss the food there,” Baekhyun says. “Wait and see, I’ll beat you in being the café’s favorite customer.”

Kyungsoo snorts, smiling. “Sure, if you can.”

“Hey, I need to go help my mom with something so I have to go,” Baekhyun says. “I’ll see you next week, I guess?”

“Yeah, sure, okay,” Kyungsoo says. “See you next week. Good night, Baekhyun.”

“Good night, Soo. Bye!” Before Kyungsoo drops the call, he hears Baekhyun say, “Wait, wait! I almost forgot something!”

“What is it?”

“Can I… have your number? So that I’ll call you there instead of like, disturbing your whole household with the telephone constantly ringing.” Baekhyun pauses. “If you don’t mind, I guess?”

Kyungsoo stops leaning on the wall, stands straight. His back hurts. “No, it’s alright, let me just um”—he says—“wait, I’m gonna dictate it, write it down okay.” He says his number out loud, and Kyungsoo complains as Baekhyun laughs and says he didn’t hear it clearly and asks Kyungsoo to say it again. By the time they’re finished, Kyungsoo’s mother just came out of the bathroom.

“Alright then. I’ll talk to you when I call.” Baekhyun’s grin on his mind is wide. “Good night, Soo!”

“Who was that?” His mother asks when Kyungsoo hangs up.

“Baekhyun.”

“Oh!” she smiles. “Why did he call? What did he want to talk about?”

Kyungsoo just shrugs.“You know, just stuff.”

Baekhyun texts him later on. ‘ _Hey, this is Baekhyun. Save my number ok :D_ ’ his text says. Kyungsoo doesn’t reply, just saves Baekhyun on his contacts, turning off his phone for the night.

 

 

Baekhyun does call a few days later, and Kyungsoo sits on the porch as they talk about Baekhyun’s grandmother and Baekhyun allows Mongryeong to bark all over the speaker.

“If I take Mongryong back, will you visit me then?” Baekhyun had asked almost teasingly, a smile in his voice. Above, the clouds filter sunlight, scattered halos on wooden floors, and Kyungsoo tries to catch the brightness of everything in his fingertips. Baekhyun’s still waiting for an answer on the other line.

Kyungsoo says yes, someday, and _I’m not promising anything okay._ He agrees, but it’s only because Mongryong seemed like a dog he’d want to meet.

 

_Kyungsoo._

He stares at his name scribbled on paper, the English alphabets making sense in his mind. Inscribed in each letter are random patterns and cute colors, random objects like cats and a half-moon with a face dotting around it.

“I was bored and decided to doodle your name.” Baekhyun laughs. “My grandma went to the market and Mongryeong was out chasing butterflies. I had nothing else to do.”

“So you chose my name?” Kyungsoo continues staring at it, thumb idly running on the paper.

Baekhyun shrugs. “It was the first name that came to my mind,” he says. “Do you like it? Or is it too…”

Kyungsoo look at Baekhyun. “It’s cute. Why would I not like it?” His lips quirk up. “Are you going to give it to me?”

“I mean, it’s meant for you so.” Baekhyun shrugs. “Are you gonna fold it and put it in your pocket or do you want me to put it in my bag for the mean time?”

Kyungsoo hands him the paper. “Make sure there’ll be no creases.”

Baekhyun laughs.

At that time, Kyungsoo’s mother comes out of the house. “Boys!” she says. “Would you mind picking up a few things for me? I ran out of cabbages and milk.”

“Sure, mom,” Kyungsoo says, and his mother hands him the money. “Just cabbages and milk?”

“Maybe some vegetable oil too since we’re gonna run out next week,” she says. “Oh and also, if you boys want to buy snacks you’re free to do it. Just don’t spend too much, okay? I’m still expecting some of that money returned to me.”

“Alright,” Kyungsoo says. “Cabbages, milk, vegetable oil. Don’t worry, we’re not gonna spend much.”

She adoringly taps both of their noses. “Alright then, run along now. Stay safe!”

“Don’t worry, Kyungsoo’s mom.” Baekhyun looks at him with lopsided grin. “I’ll return him safely to you.”

She just laughs and ruffles both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s hair. She closes the door gently behind her. Kyungsoo looks at his watch, 6:10 in the morning, and pockets the money. “Let’s go?”

Baekhyun grandly gestures with a grin. “Lead the way.”

It’s an early morning so there aren’t much people outside. Mrs. Jung from the next block over waves at them and they stop for a while to chat with her, talking about marigolds blooming in the summer and how Baekhyun looked really handsome and how his hair reminded her of the pink azaleas sitting on her window. They leave after a few minutes, cutting through houses and small roads and laundry lines.

By the time they’re climbing up the steeper slopes, with the roads much more undefined up here and nimble trees start dotting their way, there are already small beads of sweat on Baekhyun’s temple. Baekhyun has stopped talking about his visit in his grandmother’s house and how his brother wanted to make mountain climbing one of his recreational activities but gave up when he tried it out once. They’d taken a path off the road, veered off the way up to Naksan Park, and navigated through trees and untamed grass, and Kyungsoo can tell the climb’s tiring Baekhyun out.

“We’re close,” Kyungsoo says, a little tired himself. “Just a few steps more.”

They walk up a bit more until their feet finally step on plane surface. Baekhyun stops to catch his breath before catching up with Kyungsoo. When he turns and sees the view, Kyungsoo hears him exhale a soft “ _oh”_ as the city stands before him.

Kyungsoo can make up the buildings in the distance, standing tall under the clouds. The sky is a pale shade of blue and the sun is painted up high, just above one of the tallest buildings, streaming down sunbeams. If they look to their left, situated up high are old city walls, a then-fortress now standing as a proud trademark of the popular Naksan Park.

“We should sit down,” Kyungsoo says, pointing to the broken bench a few steps from the edge, cutting through tall grass past their ankles. Baekhyun breathes a sigh of relief when they finally sit.

“So, this is my favorite place,” he starts, “Chanyeol, Sehun and I stumbled upon this accidentally when we decided to cut the last class in school. Sehun convinced us, actually, because his last class was Math and he didn’t want to attend. Chanyeol was easily swayed so naturally, I had to come along.” He laughs. “We missed a pop quiz in History, then. But it didn’t matter.”

“Were you childhood friends with Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks, picking on a loose thread on his jeans.

“Mm, yeah, kinda?” he says, looking out the horizon. “His family transferred here in 6th grade and we became classmates. We didn’t really talk but on the 2nd week he started bugging me. He was really noisy and loud and already had a lot of friends the first week. I don’t know why he took a liking to me, but I’m not… complaining.” He shrugs, smiling a bit. “Guess his presence grew on me.”

Baekhyun smiles. “Guess it did.”

“How about you and Jongdae?”

“Inseparable since kindergarten,” he laughs. “I don’t even remember how we became friends. We just clicked, you know?”

They stare out the city for a while as it’s starting to wake up, the sun shining brighter up ahead. Their village, too, must be starting to blossom awake now. By now, Mrs. Oh is probably already outside, sweeping the street in front of them and chatting with Mr. Im from next door. The air is starting to get warmer now, summer unraveling, but the morning wind blows a light breeze on their backs so it’s okay.

“I want to draw it,” Baekhyun says. “So I’m painting this all in my memory.”

Kyungsoo laughs. “Go ahead, we have all morning.” He says. “Hm, actually, we still have to pick up a few things from the grocery store so make it quick.”

Baekhyun takes out his notebook from his bag and starts sketching for a bit, quieting down, and Kyungsoo looks at him for the first few seconds before allowing him to have his privacy, staring at the city instead. Kyungsoo doesn’t how long they stay like that, just sitting and staring out, hearing Baekhyun’s quiet scribbling on paper, listening to the occasional singing of the birds.

Baekhyun sighs from behind him. “There’s something missing, I don’t know what.”

Kyungsoo looks at the drawing: an outline of the buildings, not even halfway through. “You’re not even finished yet.”

“No, that’s not it, it’s…” Baekhyun frowns. “I don’t know. Something is missing, really.”

He stares as Baekhyun idly taps the edge of his pencil on the pad. Curiously, he looks at the drawing again—he wants to see more of Baekhyun’s drawings. He isn’t sure how to ask though…

“Baekhyun,” he says. “Can I um…?”

“Can you what?” Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows.

“Can I see that notebook? I want to see your other drawings,” he peters off, “I mean, if you don’t want me to see it, it’s fine, but I just wanted to try and ask...”

“Oh,” Baekhyun’s eyes widen, “it’s fine, don’t worry. Some aren’t finished yet though and are a mess, but, yeah. Here you go.”

He hands the notebook to Kyungsoo with no hesitation. Kyungsoo flips it open curiously, to the first page, the huge notebook fluttering open. The first page contains a sketch of a cat wearing a space helmet, its two eyes of different color—gold and blue—and looking distracted. Stars and hazy swirls represent space, surrounding the cat.

The second sketch includes a strange, black and white drawing of what’s supposed to be a laminated reindeer head but looks different somehow, with its sleepy eyes and smiling lips. He flips through the pages more and sees more of Baekhyun’s drawings, figments of his imagination: unfinished doodles, a picture of a colorful laundry line with fluttering blankets and fabrics, a pastel skyline that has Kyungsoo running his hand through the paper, the colors meshing well together, an unfinished drawing of a boy Kyungsoo can’t identify who.

He continues flipping through the pages, a number of them unfinished, most of them strange yet cute looking, decorated with colors that mix well together, until he comes across a portrait of a woman. Her long hair flows past her shoulders, ombreing into a soft grey at the tips. There are lines and wrinkles decorating her face but her eyes very much look alive and deep. The drawing isn’t even done realistically, with the dark blue and smoky gray and royal purple touching the edges of her shoulders and blanketing the background, but seems very real somehow, yet out of this world magical at the same time.

“Wow, this…” Kyungsoo breathes. “Baekhyun, who… who is this?”

“That’s my mother,” Baekhyun smiles. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“She is, very much.” Kyungsoo shakes his head. “You draw so beautifully, it’s… I really can’t put it into words. You’re really an amazing artist, Baekhyun.”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun says. “I still have a lot to learn but I… that really means a lot to me.”

He doesn’t miss the redness of Baekhyun’s ears and the soft glow of the sun reflecting on his cheeks, a soft blush, the soft morning light. He doesn’t miss every single thing, at all.

 

It’s already past 7 in the morning when they reach the grocery store at the lower part of the village. The air conditioner kisses their skin and Baekhyun sighs loudly in relief, beads of sweat already forming on his back because of the climb down, as they walk inside.

“Thank god for grocery stores and their air conditioners,” Baekhyun says. “And their food too, of course.”

Kyungsoo chuckles. “We better make this quick. Mom must be waiting for us.”

“Let’s get a hold of that cabbage!”

They walk past aisles of shampoos and conditioners, instant noodles and unhealthy chips, until they reach the carts of vegetables at the end of the store. Baekhyun sings along to the song on the store radio by… that group Kyungsoo forgot the name of that just recently debuted and rose to fame. There are only two other people in the store, other than them and the cashiers, so Baekhyun sings the high note, not loudly but just enough for Kyungsoo to glare at him and poke him on the side.

“We’re grocery shopping, not walking in a mall, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says.

“Oh, so you sing out loud whenever you walk in malls?” Baekhyun grins. “Didn’t know you were the type but okay, you have a good voice anyway.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“No. No, I don’t. Please tell me,” Baekhyun says, poking fun at Kyungsoo, touching the cabbage Kyungsoo is checking. Baekhyun has taken a liking to teasing Kyungsoo, ever since he playfully commented on Kyungsoo secretly being a sweetheart when he helped Mrs. Jung move the plants inside without any complaints and Kyungsoo hissed at him with red ears for teasing. He thinks Baekhyun isn’t gonna stop anytime soon.

Now, Kyungsoo just shakes his head and playfully swats the cabbage at Baekhyun.

“Don’t you like my voice though?” Baekhyun hums. “I’ve been told I have a good voice. And a good-looking face. Don’t you agree?”

It’s apparent that he’s teasing again so Kyungsoo ignores him, just continues checking the cabbage, putting one in his basket and checking the others too. Baekhyun walks right to his personal space, poking Kyungsoo’s shoulder, putting his smiling face close, even walking to the other side of the crate just for Kyungsoo to look at him.

“You can talk to me while checking the cabbages, you know. Apparently there’s this thing called multi-tasking.”

“There’s also this thing called me purposely ignoring you.”

“Why!” Baekhyun complains loudly. It’s unfortunate the vegetables have to hear them bickering early this morning. Baekhyun sings a bit more, doting on Kyungsoo, until Kyungsoo sighs.

“Fine, I agree, alright?” Kyungsoo says, putting the last cabbage in the basket. He doesn’t look at Baekhyun at all, and his pink hair, and his face, because he has to admit, Baekhyun is good-looking in a way Kyungsoo can’t seem to pinpoint and doesn’t want to. Because that would mean he has to pay too much attention. Of course Kyungsoo doesn’t want to say that out loud. He just walks ahead as Baekhyun follows a few steps behind.

Apparently, Baekhyun has already forgotten what he’s bugging Kyungsoo about. He slings an arm around Kyungsoo. “Agree with what?”

“With...” Kyungsoo shakes his head; he already said it, he doesn’t want to say it out loud. “Nevermind.” He brushes off Baekhyun’s arm and continues walking head, trying to avoid the discussion, already leaving Baekhyun behind.

 

The remainder of the day goes by with a breeze. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo eat breakfast at their house and Baekhyun laughs too much when Kyungsoo’s mother tells him about Kyungsoo’s embarrassing moments as a child. Kyungsoo groans at his mother and kicks Baekhyun’s foot a few times under the table that turns into them playing footsie for a few seconds before Kyungsoo has to wash the dishes.

Baekhyun starts painting before lunch. Chanyeol comes by after lunch and he and Baekhyun are a loud but funny pair. Kyungsoo shakes his head at their silly statements a couple of times, but he is unable to stop his lips from forming a smile. By mid-afternoon, Baekhyun has already drawn the form of a moon on the wall. He and Kyungsoo talk on the porch during Baekhyun’s break, and they watch the sky get painted with a darker shade of orange and yellow, eventually turning pinkish.

“I’ll be coming back next week to get to the details of the moon and the village. I’m running behind, I really need to get it done now,” Baekhyun says.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be here.” Kyungsoo absentmindedly cups his hands to catch the sunlight.

When he looks up, Baekhyun is smiling. The sunlight is bright. “I know.”

As he packs up his things, he hands Kyungsoo his drawing, almost forgetting to return it again. Kyungsoo looks at it for a couple of times, the idea of Baekhyun randomly thinking of his name sticking to his mind, as he waits for Baekhyun to finish changing and bid him good bye.

“See you next Thursday!”

Baekhyun leaves with a smile and a promise, like he always does, just before the sun sets.

 

This time, Baekhyun doesn’t keep his promise because he comes back the next week on a Tuesday. He’s pretty sure it’s a Tuesday. Kyungsoo is surprised when Baekhyun knocks on the door.

“Hey,” Baekhyun grins at Kyungsoo’s shocked face. “Missed me?”

What comes out of his mouth is, “Um, why are you here?”

Baekhyun laughs. “Wow, why the sudden hostility? Do you not want me here?” He stops, looking serious for a while. “I can go, if you want.”

“No, no, it’s...” And Baekhyun’s smile is back again. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. Come in.”

“I’d love to, but I have to start painting now,” Baekhyun says. “Just wanted to see you for a bit, and to inform you I’m here of course.”

Kyungsoo blinks at him, then stares at Baekhyun’s shoes instead. “Oh, okay then. Well… call me if you need anything. Have you eaten lunch?”

“Mhm,” Baekhyun hums. “I also brought snacks and my own water jug so you don’t need to come out and bring food. This is sudden, I know.” He slings his bag to his chest and rummages through it. “By the way, I, um, brought this for you.”

He hands Kyungsoo a paper with a drawing of two eyes, reflected on it is a city skyline.

“I found out what was missing about that drawing I did last week,” Baekhyun says, fumbling with his bag, even though the zipper has long been closed and he only needs to sling it back now. “Here it is, I guess.”

“You drew… eyes instead?”

Baekhyun laughs at him softly, finally slinging back his bag. He runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I did.”

“Your eyes?”

Baekhyun smiles at him, almost secretive. “They’re not mine.” Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows at that. “Anyway, I need to go paint now. I’ll see you later! And tell your mom I said hi.”

Kyungsoo is still frowning. “Will do.” He says. “They’re not your eyes?”

“No, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says with a discerning smile. “I don’t stare at my own.” And then he leaves, walking to the back, leaving Kyungsoo staring at the drawing, a small part of his brain saying something that Kyungsoo doesn’t want to quite believe. He closes the door and runs on the day with a funny feeling in his stomach about the drawing at the possibility that they’re his own.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:29PM_

Are they my eyes?

 

He sends the messages, realizing it’s the first one he’s sent ever since they exchanged numbers. They’ve only called each other twice and never texted. It’s not Kyungsoo’s fault that he’s still curious and wondering. He never got to ask Baekhyun, even when Baekhyun showed up on his porch once again to bid him good bye. He resorts to texting him that night.

Baekhyun replies a few minutes later.

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:31_

Wow. Good evening to you, too.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:32PM_

Sorry. Good evening to you.

 

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:32PM_

Are you asking me a question? At 9:32 in the evening?

 

Kyungsoo squints at the time on his phone, wondering what Baekhyun meant. Then, he remembers their conversation from last time and he snorts, a smile painting his mouth. Dork. He shakes his head, typing in his reply.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:33PM_

9:33 now. Also, yes. I’m asking you if they’re my eyes.

 

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:36PM_

What do you think?

 

Kyungsoo frowns at the message, wondering why Baekhyun is being cryptic about it. Maybe they’re not his and he’s just assuming things. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t stare at himself in the mirror that often to memorize the shape of his own eyes.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:37PM_

The drawing is beautiful, by the way. Thank you. You don’t need to keep drawing me things, you know…

 

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:38PM_

It’s my choice :p Also, thank you too :) These kind of things make you resort to texting huh? I should do it often…. Kidding hehe.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:39Pm_

LOL. I was curious, okay. Anyway, I’m going to sleep now. I have to wake up early tomorrow. Good night.

 

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:39PM_

Good night. Sweet dreams! I’ll see you in two days.

 

_From: Kyungsoo_

_To: Baekhyun_

_Sent 9:39PM_

You still haven’t answered my question but whatever. See you.

 

He turns off his phone and places it on his desk. He allows himself to sink on the bed and close his eyes, calling it a day. The cracked lines on the ceiling are the last thing he remembers before he drifts off to sleep. He wakes up to a text message when he checks his phone and something strange sits in his stomach, somehow, for the rest of the day but he blames it on that stale-looking bread he ate that morning.

 

_From: Baekhyun_

_To: Kyungsoo_

_Sent 9:46PM_

Yeah, they’re your eyes.

 

 

“Hey, you came!”

There’s a grin in Chanyeol’s voice and Kyungsoo knows before he turns to look. Chanyeol is flailing his arms, waving at Kyungsoo wildly before saying something to a staff member at the back and handing him his apron. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes before sitting on a chair near the window.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” comes Chanyeol’s loud voice again as Kyungsoo places the clean and thoroughly washed lunchbox on the table.

“I had to,” Kyungsoo says. “Here’s the lunchbox. Where’s your mom?”

“Oh, she went out for a bit to grab a few ingredients,” Chanyeol says, sitting on the chair across Kyungsoo’s. “It’s dad’s birthday, remember? We’re gonna have a small feast.”

“Oh, right, tell him I said happy birthday,” Kyungsoo smiles. “Also tell your mom thank you again for the lunchbox.”

“Tell her that yourself,” Chanyeol says. “She’ll be coming back in a bit. It won’t be long.” But he takes the lunchbox anyway and walks to the back, giving it to someone before sitting on the chair again. “So, what do you want to eat today?”

“I’m not that hungry. It’s okay.”

“Some coffee then?”

Kyungsoo chuckles. “Sure, if you insist,” he says. “But it’d be better if we wait for Baekhyun and Jongdae to arrive.”

Chanyeol’s eyes light up. “They’re coming?”

“Yeah, Baekhyun told me last night,” Kyungsoo says. “Jongdae couldn’t come last week because he had some matters to attend to but he’s coming now. Baekhyun says Jongdae missed your mom’s cooking.”

Chanyeol laughs. “Mom’s cooking truly is magic,” he says. “For my first date, I’m bringing them here so that it’d be a guarantee that they’ll come back.”

“But then your mother’s going to gush all over your date and tell them embarrassing childhood stories,” Kyungsoo grins. “I’d be there to do that too.”

“What, the gushing part?”

“No, the telling them embarrassing stories part.” Kyungsoo smirks. “I have tons here.”

Chanyeol winces. “Um, no thanks. I’m gonna take them to the café next door instead.”

Kyungsoo laughs.

They talk for a bit more, topics ranging from when Sehun is going to come back from his trip to China to the shoes the guy that passed by is wearing. Baekhyun and Jongdae come almost 30 minutes later, and they take the cool morning air in with them as they swish past the doors of the café.

“Morning,” Baekhyun grins, gaze landing on Kyungsoo. “Are we late?”

“No one is ever too late for Mom’s waffles. Are you hungry?”

“I am!” Jongdae says, a bit too excited.

Chanyeol laughs. “Alright. But I’m kidding, mom isn’t here but we have someone who cooks just as good waffles as hers. Wait here.”

Jongdae claps in excitement as Chanyeol disappears to the back of the café. Baekhyun sits beside Kyungsoo as Jongdae takes the seat in front of them. It’s just 8am but a lot of people are already walking outside, most of them adults running to the bus stop or kids with their parents excitedly walking to food shops. The sun’s already shining outside, reflecting on the wide windows of shops and cafes and beaming down on the steps of the sidewalk.

“You guys planning to go around today?” Kyungsoo asks them.

“I don’t know about Jongdae but I’m not,” Baekhyun says. “I’m gonna work on that painting. I’m running behind. Some artists already finished theirs.”

“Yeah, I saw a couple of artworks already halfway finished the last time we went to the village,” Jongdae says. “But those were small ones so don’t worry, take your time.”

“Take my time,” Baekhyun snorts. “Sure.”

Chanyeol comes out with two plates of waffles, some juice, and coffee for Kyungsoo. Baekhyun and Jongdae’s eyes brighten as they see the food and they immediately start thanking him, poking on their waffles.

“Aren’t you gonna eat, Soo?” Baekhyun asks from beside him, chewing his waffle. Kyungsoo pushes his face away with his palm.

“I already ate breakfast before I came here,” Kyungsoo says. “Besides, I can eat whenever I want here so I’m not worried about missed opportunities.”

“Every time you turn down food is a missed opportunity for me,” Jongdae says, already halfway finished on his one waffle.

Chanyeol laughs. “You rarely ever come down now though, Kyungsoo. Since last Winter. Mom said once she missed cooking for you.”

“Rarely is an overstatement,” Kyungsoo says. “I come here once almost every week. Not as often as before but that does not count as rare.”

“Whatever. Still, she keeps on saying she misses you.”

“Yeah well, you should bring her next time you decide to come over my house unannounced and eat chips all over my couch.”

“Bah, she wouldn’t approve of my habits,” Chanyeol says. “And she’s a busy woman.”

“I don’t know about you, Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun’s voice cut through. “But I wouldn’t resist this.” Then, Baekhyun holds up a piece of waffle, maple syrup dripping down, and he grins. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, seeing Chanyeol and Jongdae laugh. When he turns to look again, Baekhyun is holding the waffle close to him, then he taps it on Kyungsoo’s lips as if to say ‘ _open up!’._

“Fine, whatever,” Kyungsoo grumbles, then opens his mouth to take the waffle between his lips, licking off the sauce around his mouth. He sees Baekhyun blink once, twice, before seemingly snapping out of whatever he’s thinking and laughing along with Chanyeol and Jongdae, not missing a beat.

“By the way, Baekhyun, how’s your painting going?” Chanyeol asks when the laughter dies down. He steals Jongdae’s fork and cuts off a bit of the waffle, taking it in his mouth. Jongdae doesn’t seem to mind.

“Terribly,” Baekhyun says, almost somberly. “Kidding, not really. But I’m slow. I’m about to finish outlining. I don’t know if Kyungsoo told you, but I came two days ago to work on the painting.”

“Oh, yeah, he did tell me yesterday. I didn’t see the painting though.”

“Well, you’re gonna see later,” Baekhyun smiles, then looks at Jongdae. “Or not, actually. You’re going to Chanyeol’s house right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Jongdae says. “He’s gonna let me borrow some of his games. It won’t take long though, we’ll be back quick.”

“Nah, it’s okay, take your time, I need to focus on my painting anyway.”

“So you’re saying I’m a distraction?” Jongdae raises his eyebrow.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo laugh at that. Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. I prefer painting alone.”

“You say you paint with Kyungsoo all the time,” Jongdae says.

Baekhyun opens his mouth, then closes it as if thinking of what he’s going to say. “Well,” he starts. “Kyungsoo is different.”

Kyungsoo looks at him curiously but Baekhyun doesn’t look back. Different.

“Different how?”

It’s only then that Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo, almost cautiously, before retorting. “Kyungsoo gives me food. You give me headache.” Baekhyun sticks his tongue out playfully. Jongdae gawks in disbelief and pantomimes throwing the fork at him.

 

They spend the rest of the morning at the café before they have to come back to the village for Baekhyun to finish his painting. Chanyeol and Jongdae part with them first, Chanyeol’s house being in the foot of the village, and Baekhyun and Kyungsoo walk in silence, feet in sync when Kyungsoo looks.

“Good luck with your painting,” Kyungsoo says. “I’m gonna leave you alone for the meantime so you can focus on it.”

“Don’t listen to Jongdae,” Baekhyun grumbles. “He’s stupid.”

Kyungsoo chuckles. “I’ll be here if you need me, okay? Just knock on the door.”

Baekhyun reaches for something in his bag. Kyungsoo doesn’t close the door quite yet, just watches Baekhyun rummage in his backpack. He hands Kyungsoo a CD. “Listen to this, I made it.”

“Um?” Kyungsoo tilts his head. “Thanks, I will. What does it contain?”

“My favorite songs.” Baekhyun raises his head just as Kyungsoo’s about to close the door. “Don’t hesitate to come out if you want to talk. I don’t mind, really.”

“Thank you. I know, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo smiles, head peeking at the halfway-closed door. “I know.”

 

Kyungsoo learns, on a Saturday evening, that Baekhyun’s singing voice still sounds good over the phone.

He’d been doing the dishes that time, after having just finished eating dinner with his mom and Chanyeol who came over. He was halfway through washing the plate when he heard his phone’s ring tone, unmistakable, echo throughout the walls of their house. It was faint, admittedly, because it was tucked somewhere in his room and it took him a few minutes to recognize the tone but he heard it nevertheless.

“Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun’s voice comes and he sandwiches the phone between his ear and shoulder, finishing the plate first before wiping his hands and holding the phone properly.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo says. “What’s up?”

“Did I disturb you? Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I… was just about to finish washing the dishes anyway.”

“You should finish that first,” Baekhyun says. “I’m going to call later. It’s not that important anyway.”

“It’s alright. Just go ahead and tell me.”

“Later, Kyungsoo.” Then Baekhyun drops the call. Kyungsoo frowns but he places the phone in his pocket anyway and continues washing the dishes. It takes him another 15 minutes for him to finish and Baekhyun calls him again as he’s changing his shirt to a cleaner one.

“Hey,” Baekhyun says. “Finished?”

“Yeah. What’s up?” Then he warns, “Don’t you dare hang up again.”

Baekhyun laughs, a familiar sound. “I’m not going to, don’t worry. Anyway, have you listened to the CD?”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo winces, looking around for the CD, finding it on top of his desk. “I… haven’t but I’ve been planning to. I’m sorry. I’m gonna…”

“It’s alright, don’t worry, take your time,” Baekhyun says. “Do you want a preview?”

“What?"

“Do you want a preview of the CD?”

Kyungsoo squints. “What preview? How?”

Then, Baekhyun starts singing. Kyungsoo doesn’t realize it at first but he hears Baekhyun’s voice, clear in his ears, despite the static and the miles between them. It’s a song Kyungsoo hasn’t heard of before, but the tune is familiar somehow like Baekhyun has hummed it under his breath many times before and Kyungsoo had always been there to listen. He imagines Baekhyun sitting in his room, crooning out the lyrics to a song, as they both listen to each other on the line, watching the world turn.

He thinks of sunrises and pink lemonades and footsies. His heart is beating in a comforting matter. Before he knows it, the song ends and they’re both quiet on the line. The world continues turning.

(The CD contains a couple love songs and a few more personal ones and girl group songs when he listens to it the next morning. It’s good, and Kyungsoo plays it on repeat for the remainder of the day, each reminding him of Baekhyun.)

 

Baekhyun’s calls and texts start becoming more frequent, ranging from good morning texts to what he thinks about a certain group’s latest performance on Mcountdown. He also starts coming twice a week to work on the painting.

He’s busier and more focused these days, to the point that their longest conversation is on the phone during night time and not during Baekhyun’s visits here. Kyungsoo doesn’t blame him—he needs to finish that painting after all and he’s only got a couple more weeks to do so.

So far, the painting looks good whenever Kyungsoo sees it during his brief talks with Baekhyun when he brings refreshments. He doesn’t stare at it or go out that much for him to see the actual progress but Kyungsoo thinks Baekhyun is doing just fine, more than he gives himself credit for. Baekhyun is always unsatisfied with something: the color, how a certain object is drawn, the shape of the moon. But Kyungsoo honestly thinks he’s doing great from a vantage point of view.

Baekhyun starts growing into Kyungsoo. It’s a bit late when he realizes he’s come to look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays. He’s gotten used to Baekhyun’s presence, his words, his colors, and his smile. It’s kind of like a familiar comfort that he’s gotten used to blossoming in his chest, like what happened to him and Chanyeol and Sehun and his other friends, but somehow… somehow Baekhyun’s is different in a way Kyungsoo can’t seem to pinpoint.

Maybe Kyungsoo can think about it some other time. For now, he needs to stop staring at the cracks in the wall and actually get some sleep. Things are different now. He closes his eyes.

Different. As it is, always, with Baekhyun.

 

It’s another supposedly normal Thursday.

There are pink lemonades and glasses and coasters sitting on the wooden table outside. Kyungsoo is leaning on the wall, drinking from one of the glasses, as Baekhyun paints the tummy of a dog blue. Lately, the days have become hotter even though Kyungsoo’s just wearing shorts and a thin shirt and honestly, he wouldn’t be outside if it weren’t for Baekhyun.

“You can take a break, you know,” Kyungsoo says softly. Baekhyun hasn’t talked much for the past 10 minutes Kyungsoo has been standing outside and Kyungsoo isn’t used to it. He has tried asking him where Jongdae was and if he’s coming next week but all he got were short, curt replies that almost seemed like he didn’t want to talk.

Again, Kyungsoo can’t blame Baekhyun. He’s been pressed about the painting lately and he doesn’t want to press Baekhyun about it more.

Kyungsoo sighs. “I’m going back inside. Do you need a cap? I can get you one. Protect your head from the heat.”

Baekhyun looks at him for the first time. His lips are pursed, the taut lines of his mouth painting his face with an unfamiliar look. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“Alright, then,” Kyungsoo says. “Knock on the door if you need anything.”

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything so Kyungsoo leaves him, closing the door gently behind him.

 

Kyungsoo has just showered when somebody knocks on the door. It’s 6:30 in the evening when Kyungsoo checks the wall clock.

He’s confused, but he’s expecting Baekhyun to be on the other side. He hasn’t gone out at all ever since he went back in 6 hours ago, so as to leave Baekhyun alone and let him focus on the painting. He’d forgotten to bring back in the pitcher and glasses and coasters so maybe Baekhyun is here to give them back and bid his good bye.

When he opens the door, it’s not Baekhyun.

“Good evening,” the guy says, bowing almost immediately. “Is this the Do residence?”

“Um,” Kyungsoo blinks. The guy has black hair and dimples on both cheeks. It’s the first thing he notices. “Yes?”

“Oh! Well um, are you Do Kyungsoo?”

“I… am,” Kyungsoo says awkwardly, not knowing what all this is about. Where is Baekhyun?

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Zhang Yixing, Baekhyun’s friend,” the guy says. Yixing, the sculptor friend Baekhyun told him about, if Kyungsoo remembers correctly. “I just wanted to ask where Baekhyun is? I’ve been waiting for him for the past hour. We were supposed to meet down the hill at 5:30 but he hasn’t appeared at all.”

Kyungsoo frowns. “Baekhyun? Have you checked the lot next to us?”

 _Idiot, of course he has_. “Yeah, and I’ve looked for him in other places too. I can’t contact him at all.”

“Oh, okay, let me just um,” Kyungsoo says, suddenly in a hurry. “Let me just grab my phone and I’ll look with you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to, it’s okay,” Yixing’s eyes widen. “I can do it myself.”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Kyungsoo says. “Baekhyun’s my friend too anyway.”

He goes to his room to get his phone and when he comes back, he and Yixing go out to look for Baekhyun. They go to obvious places, like the convenience store and the other places artists are working at and even tried asking the neighbors if they saw Baekhyun pass by. It’s already 7:10 but Baekhyun’s still not answering any of their texts and calls and he’s still nowhere to be seen. Kyungsoo is worried. Baekhyun’s things were still intact the last time they checked, the paintbrushes and pails of paint and even the glasses of juice still on the table. He wonders what could have happened to Baekhyun and tries not to worry too much, because nothing bad could have happened to Baekhyun because after all, this is a sleepy village, so he must be safe right?

“I really need to go now,” Yixing says as they stop at a sidewalk once. “I still have to meet up with someone at 7:30. What am I supposed to do?”

“You can go now,” Kyungsoo says. “I’ll look for Baekhyun and tell him you went first. It’s alright.”

“I… I feel guilty though,” Yixing bites his lip. “I don’t want to go without knowing what happened to Baekhyun.

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo says. “He’s safe. Nothing ever happens in this village. Don’t worry.”

Yixing still looks unsure.

“I can... update you if you want? You can give me your number,” Kyungsoo says. “If you don’t mind, that is. I’ll keep looking for Baekhyun.”

“O… kay,” Yixing says. “Tell him to call me if he shows up, alright? I’ll be going first now then.”

Yixing is still feeling guilty and uneasy so Kyungsoo allows him to stick a bit longer before he leaves almost 10 minutes later. Kyungsoo continues looking, until his mother calls him and asks him where he is and he tells her he’s looking for Baekhyun. Chanyeol calls him too, just because, but Kyungsoo can’t ask for his help because he’s in the cashier shift for their café. Kyungsoo tells him, anyway, and Chanyeol tells him he’ll try to call Baekhyun and Kyungsoo should text him when he finds Baekhyun.

“You’ll find him, Kyungsoo, don’t worry,” Chanyeol says.

“I’m not worrying,” Kyungsoo mumbles. Really, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Nothing news-worthy ever happens in their village and the worst possible event is someone probably trespassing through one of the secret paths to Naksan Park and breaking their leg and falling to their death. But that’s unlikely to happen. Honestly, why is he worrying so much?

Then, his mind catches on an idea. Secret paths. He is reminded of that place he showed Baekhyun a few weeks ago. His face lights up at the idea and he switches his direction.

“I think I know where to find him,” Kyungsoo says. “I’ll call you later, Yeol.”

“You better,” Chanyeol says, and Kyungsoo hangs up.

He walks up the hill, treading through the familiar off-the-road path and cutting past knee-high grass. It’s dark so Kyungsoo uses his cellphone as a flashlight but it doesn’t do much, given the weak light it emits and the small screen it has. When his feet come into contact with plane surface, he immediately walks to the direction of the bench, expecting to see Baekhyun.

His heart drops when he doesn’t see him.

He’s starting to get more worried now, and he dials Baekhyun’s number once again. No answer. He resorts to his last option and cuts through more grass, going up to the direction of Naksan Park. It’s a tough climb, honestly, and there’s a reason why this place is forbidden from trespassers because of the steep slopes but Kyungsoo braves it anyway. He’s too lazy to come down again and walk the longer path to Naksan Park. His knees are starting to get tired.

It’s a relief when he reaches the cobbled steps of Naksan Park and sees the familiar tall stadiums and walls standing high and smells the familiar, wispy scent in the air. There are a couple of people walking, taking pictures, even at this time of the night, but Kyungsoo pays them no heed as he looks for Baekhyun.

He finds Baekhyun eating instant ramen at a convenience store.

“What the fuck?” Kyungsoo spits out appropriately when he walks up to Baekhyun. Baekhyun looks surprised, like he’s been caught red-handed, in the middle of putting in chili powder.

“Kyungsoo!” his eyes widen. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same thing to you,” Kyungsoo says, almost angry, and confused, more at himself and his reaction than Baekhyun. “What are you doing here?”

“Eating dinner?”

“It’s almost 8 in the evening, jackass!”

“Um,” Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows. “Exactly?”

Kyungsoo sighs, running a hand to his face, calming himself down. “Your friend Yixing had been looking for you and he said you’re supposed to meet up at 5:30 but you didn’t come.”

“Oh, right, I forgot. I left my phone at my bag,” Baekhyun says. “I’ll call him later.”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you gonna explain why you’re still out here eating instant noodles at 8 in the evening and not sitting in a bus on your way home?”

Baekhyun purses his lips. “I was hungry.”

“You made everyone worry because you decided to eat ramen at Naksan Park without telling anyone.”

“I wasn’t finished with my painting, okay?” Baekhyun snaps, and Kyungsoo can hear the edge in his voice. “I couldn’t leave at 6pm. I’m still not finished with my painting.”

“You still have a few more weeks, Baekhyun.”

“I only have three more weeks, Kyungsoo.”

“Ample time.”

Baekhyun snorts. “Yeah, right.” He says. “Please tell everyone I’m sorry for making them worry and I’m fine.”

“Tell them that your own,” Kyungsoo says, then he continues with a softer voice, genuinely concerned now. He sighs. “You don’t have to worry much, you’re gonna finish it on time. Besides, even if you don’t, you can still come back even when the semester starts right? There’s no project deadline, after all.”

“There is, for me,” Baekhyun says. “I’m going to Japan this semester.”

Kyungsoo blinks. “Japan?”

“Yeah, as an exchange student.” Baekhyun pokes his noodles. “I won’t be back until January maybe, so I have to finish this.”

“Oh.”

They stay quiet for a while and Kyungsoo sits beside Baekhyun, quietly tapping his fingers on the table as Baekhyun eats. They don’t talk much and Kyungsoo thinks of Baekhyun in Japan and cherry blossoms and foreign students. He thinks of Baekhyun’s painting and his funny stories and CDs. He thinks of Baekhyun’s smile and how it’s not present now.

He thinks of a lot of things, Kyungsoo thinks, and most of them are about Baekhyun. He doesn’t know what to do with that. All he knows is that he believes in Baekhyun and wants Baekhyun to believe in himself too.

“You’re gonna finish your painting on time,” Kyungsoo says, voice firm, for the both of them, for Baekhyun, trying to cut through the sudden tension.

But all that Baekhyun says is “ _Yeah_ ” and it’s the end of their conversation.

 

Somehow, Kyungsoo’s mother manages to coax Baekhyun into staying the night.

They don’t know how it happened. One minute she’s all over Baekhyun, asking him where he went and if he’s alright and if he’s hurt and _have you eaten dinner because if you haven’t I can whip out food for you fast_ —and then the next, she’s telling Baekhyun to go borrow one of Kyungsoo’s clothes to change into for the night and fixing all of Baekhyun’s things outside.

Baekhyun had tried to amend things with red ears, embarrassed. “You really don’t need to. I don’t want to be a bother—“

“Nonsense!” Kyungsoo’s mother had snorted. “You’re never a bother, Baekhyunnie. Now shoo, go change into cleaner clothes.”

So now they’re standing here, Kyungsoo awkwardly folding Seungsoo’s blanket for Baekhyun. The house only has three bedrooms, and Kyungsoo and Seungsoo had separate bedrooms once, when their grandmother died and Kyungsoo transferred to the next room. But he didn’t last for two months, often feeling sad and smelling his grandmother’s scent in the air most of the time. It wasn’t his fault, he was just a 7-year-old kid and he missed his grandmother’s soft smile and grey hair a lot.

His mother had transferred him back to Seungsoo’s room after that and made the spare room kind of like a storage room, boxes and boxes of art things and picture frames and books stacked on each other. Their grandmother had been a hoarder and they didn’t have the heart to throw away her things. It’s good Seungsoo didn’t mind having Kyungsoo as a roommate though but it didn’t matter because he moved out pretty soon anyway, to continue college. Ever since then, he had the room to his own and the spare bed was moved to the spare room for Kyungsoo to have more space to call his own.

“I can sleep in the living room if you want,” Baekhyun says, cutting through the quiet air.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind,” Kyungsoo says.

Kyungsoo’s not used to this. He isn’t used to Baekhyun not creating the mood or smiling or teasing Kyungsoo. So he chooses to stay quiet instead, doing what he does best. They’ll both talk in the morning, hopefully.

Kyungsoo hands Baekhyun the blanket.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun says softly.

They don’t sleep, not yet, and Kyungsoo pretends to be doing something on his desk as Baekhyun draws on the bed. He doesn’t want Baekhyun to feel bad for keeping the lights on or for not sleeping yet, even though Kyungsoo wants to already. The air is quiet. Baekhyun doesn’t look at him the first time he yawns but he does in the second and speaks the third time.

“You should go to sleep,” Baekhyun says. “You should’ve told me.”

“Nah, I’m not really that—“ Then, he yawns again.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says, a bit exasperated. “It’s alright, really. I don’t want to keep you up.”

“Okay but it’s okay if you don’t turn off the lights, I don’t mind, go ahead and keep drawing.”

“It’s alright.” Baekhyun closes his notebook, and Kyungsoo can see that the drawing is not yet even halfway finished. He doesn’t comment on that. “I was just finishing, anyway. Do you want me to turn off the lights for you?”

“I can do it,” Kyungsoo says, walking to turn off the lights. He hears the bed shift, sees Baekhyun’s figure sitting on the bed, waiting for Kyungsoo to lie down. Somehow, Kyungsoo feels strangely nervous and he tries not to let it show as he walks on the bed. Maybe it’s because he’s afraid Baekhyun will snap any second. Maybe he doesn’t want to add in to Baekhyun’s stress. Or maybe it’s something entirely different, Kyungsoo doesn’t know.

He remembers Baekhyun’s hair and his fingers and boxy smile. He remembers his laughter and jokes and teasing. He doesn’t know why all these things are coming to him all at once but allows himself to drown in the ocean of his thoughts, acting as if the subject of it all isn’t lying just in front of him.

Now that Kyungsoo thinks about it, he had always thought Baekhyun would be unforgettable. In a way that would pull in his heartstrings. The thought makes him breathless, so suddenly.

He can feel Baekhyun’s warmth radiate, and their toes touch for a bit. He makes the mistake of facing Baekhyun when he lies down. Everything is strange tonight. It’s another supposedly normal Thursday but somehow, things are different, the atmosphere thick, the events pulling like wild, changing currents.

He sees Baekhyun’s eyes in the dark and sees nothing else.

“Good night,” Baekhyun whispers. Kyungsoo can feel his breath on his face.

“Good night,” Kyungsoo whispers back, and he hopes Baekhyun isn’t close enough to hear the sudden onslaught of thoughts in his mind, weighing him down, keeping his body locked stiff on the bed.

 

It’s still dark when Kyungsoo opens his eyes the first time.

He navigates through the dark blindly, trying to be subtle about his movements so as not to wake Baekhyun up. The wan moonlight gleams softly through the windows and lace curtains. His feet are cold, walking barefoot on the wooden floor to the bathroom, and he doesn’t stop long enough to stare at the living room lest he sees something.

His grandmother’s beliefs are hard to shake off. He isn’t scared of ghosts, but wouldn’t like to see one.

When he comes back, Baekhyun is reaching for something in the dark blindly.

“Kyungsoo?” his voice comes out rough, crusted with sleep.

“Hi,” he whispers through the dark. “I had to go to the bathroom, sorry to wake you up.”

The bed shifts under his weight. Their knees touch as Kyungsoo fixes his own blanket.

“You didn’t wake me up, don’t worry,” Baekhyun says.

“Couldn’t sleep?” They’re facing each other again.

“Kind of,” Baekhyun says. “I’m fine though, don’t worry.”

 _Don't worry._ Kyungsoo almost snorts. He should've told Kyungsoo that a few hours ago when he was looking for him.

“It's not as if I can do anything," Kyungsoo starts, tries to shut down his thoughts, tries to lighten up the atmosphere, even though they should be asleep right now and not striking up conversations they should have started hours ago. “What do you expect me to do, sing you to sleep?"

“Will you?” He can imagine Baekhyun’s lips quirking up, but he can’t see it in the dark. He feels the weird urge to trace his fingers on Baekhyun’s lips just to feel it. He unconsciously tightens his hands to fist at the thought.

“I’m not your personal radio, Baekhyun.”

It must be in his head but Baekhyun moves closer. “Just this once.” His voice is a whisper that carries through Kyungsoo’s head, keeps him awake and straining for more.

It takes him a few seconds to agree, mentally berate himself, before he starts crooning out a song. It’s the one his grandmother used to sing to him when he was a kid and it always comforts him. He keeps his voice low, soft, quiet. Baekhyun doesn’t speak at all and Kyungsoo is a bit thankful that the lights are off so he won’t have to see the expression in Baekhyun’s eyes.

He hears it in Baekhyun’s voice though.

“You have a really good voice.”

“You do, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun starts, and here it is, “for what happened this evening. I was upset at myself and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you and made others worry.”

“It’s okay,” Kyungoo says. “I understand. I don’t retract my statement though. You’re gonna do great, Baekhyun-ah.”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun breathes out. Their faces are very close now but don’t come any closer. Everything is warm, cold, strange, fluttery. He doesn’t want to think too much about it so he closes his eyes. The last thing he remembers is Baekhyun’s fingers, as if smoothing down the frown on his forehead, and the unfamiliar feeling sitting in his stomach. Unfamiliar, his chest tightens, but not unwelcomed.

 

The second time Kyungsoo opens his eyes, it takes him a few seconds and a few more blinks to realize Baekhyun isn’t lying beside him.

It’s an early morning, from what Kyungsoo can tell, the soft light reflecting on the small window in his room. He stays in his bed for a few minutes, wondering where Baekhyun went, looking at the neatly-folded blanket beside him. He decides to stand up after a few minutes, rubbing his eyes, walking out to the living room.

His mother isn’t even awake yet, so it must be very early. Sure enough, when he checks the wall clock, it’s only 5:50 in the morning, the sun not quite rising just yet.

Baekhyun’s bag is still on Kyungsoo’s desk chair so he must still be here. He knocks on the bathroom but it’s open and there’s nobody inside. He checks every room, even his mother’s for good measure, but Baekhyun isn’t in any. He walks outside, thinking Baekhyun might have treaded out for a quick walk or to catch the sunrise or whatever, and then the pieces click in his mind when he hears a clatter of cans on the empty lot next to them.

Baekhyun is outside, in Kyungsoo’s shirt and pajamas, hair not even combed yet, painting the wall.

He doesn’t speak for a few minutes, just look at Baekhyun’s figure painting. From what Kyungsoo can tell, judging by the new colors on the painting and new doodles drawn in, Baekhyun has been awake for quite some time now. He clears his throat to announce his presence and Baekhyun almost drops the paintbrush, almost messes up the painting. Kyungsoo winces.

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun says when he turns to look at Kyungsoo with wide-eyes, shocked. “I didn’t know you were awake!”

“I didn’t know you were too,” Kyungsoo says, clearing his throat again. “How long have you been awake?”

“Um, I don’t know.” Baekhyun taps the can with his toe lightly. “I didn’t really keep track of time. I was painting.”

Kyungsoo hums, looking at the painting. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Baekhyun smiles. “Better. I was suddenly inspired.” By what? Who? Kyungsoo wanted to ask but he doesn’t. “I think all I needed was a good night’s sleep.”

“On my bed.”

Baekhyun laughs, eyes glinting in amusement. There’s the smile. “Yeah, on your bed.” Kyungsoo is suddenly reminded of the events last night, Baekhyun’s breath, their close proximity, the strange feeling in his stomach that’s starting to pull in again and he looks away, clears his throat. He doesn’t know if he likes this, this new feeling. Maybe he should have let Baekhyun sleep on the couch instead.

“Anyway, I’m going to cook breakfast first. I’ll call you, okay? Don’t disappear again.”

“I won’t,” Baekhyun says, then smiles. “But even if I did, you’d find me.”

They stare at each other for a few seconds before Kyungsoo shakes his head, snaps out of it, and he walks inside. Baekhyun’s smiling again and that’s what’s important. The morning air is warm in a comfortable manner this time, enveloping him in a familiar hug, his favorite thing about summer.

 

When Baekhyun finally finishes the painting, in the last week of August, he hugs Kyungsoo in delight.

Kyungsoo, not knowing what to do, awkwardly places his arms around Baekhyun, feeling his breath tickle his neck, his warmth radiating on his body. If Kyungsoo listens hard enough, he’d hear the sound of their chests beating together, the same rhythm, like it has been for the past summer.

But Kyungsoo doesn’t listen well enough. He’s too focused on the sound of his own bursting, at the newfound feelings he only realized now, as the sunlight catches on Baekhyun’s cheek, and the loud, incessant thoughts in his mind that Baekhyun’s leaving in a week and Kyungsoo will miss him.

Baekhyun’s leaving. And Kyungsoo will miss him. It’s weird saying it out loud to himself.

So he tightens his arms around Baekhyun, keeps it there, and wait ‘till Baekhyun has to let go.

 

Summer ends with a smile from Baekhyun and the beautiful wall painting standing tall beside their house. It ends with him, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae going around Daehangno one last time before the school year starts. It ends with Baekhyun staring at Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo realizing he only knows this because he’s staring back.

It ends almost too quickly, and before he knows it, Baekhyun is gone, leaving him with a smile and a wall painting and a promise that he’ll send postcards and messages and emails. He leaves with a piece of Kyungsoo’s heart, but Kyungsoo doesn’t realize it yet.

 

Baekhyun’s first postcard is like this:

_Soo,_

_Hey! It’s only been a month but I have a feeling that you miss me now :)_   _My roommate, the Chinese guy I told you about, asked me if the person I’m sending this postcard to is the same person I text and call every week. And you know what he did when he said yes? He frowned and said “Um why” and I can’t tell him that it’s nicer this way, somehow, don’t you think? More traditional, and heartfelt, and I get to draw on the postcard too! Anyway, I won’t say much because by the time you receive this, I probably already called you the night before and told you about my day and whatever. Here’s a cute drawing for you :)_

There’s a cute drawing of a house Kyungsoo recognizes as their own back at home in Ihwa-dong. Kyungsoo laughs and keeps the postcard in his drawer, folded neatly atop.

 

The second postcard comes earlier than Kyungsoo expects it to be, only two weeks after the first one.

_Soo,_

_I’m starting to think I’d like to move to Japan in the future and maybe settle down here, at a quite little town somewhere away from Tokyo. I heard the towns here are postcard worthy, so here’s one. Anyway, I hope you’re having a good day/night as you read this! If I haven’t called you yet by the time you’re reading this, just text me or feel free to do the calling ;)_

This time, it’s a colorful drawing of fried noodles on a small bowl. Baekhyun must be hungry when he drew this. Kyungsoo shakes his head, smiles to himself, and keeps the postcard on top of the first one. He calls Baekhyun that evening and they talk until Kyungsoo has to go to bed, static and sleep lilting in his voice as they laugh.

 

By the third postcard, Kyungsoo’s already buried in term papers and class presentations and school works. He only reads it two days after he receives it. Kyungsoo can tell Baekhyun is busy too, given the infrequent text messages and phone calls that only come once a week now. It’s okay, he says to himself, they both have busy college lives and they’ll get to talk more in the future. The drawing takes up most of the postcard this time.

_Soo,_

_I don’t want to start this negatively but fuck exams honestly? I’m so tired and sleepy but I still have a lot to do. Anyway, I hope you’re having a great/day night. I’m gonna call you some time this week probably when you receive this so you don’t forget my voice. Hehe_

It’s a drawing of a busy street, cobbled steps, colorful buildings, and if Kyungsoo looks close enough, two of the many people in the drawing are holding hands. “How romantic,” Kyungsoo mumbles, before inserting the postcard between the pages of his book, ready to sleep and call it a day.

 

The months and seasons come by in the form of more school work, postcards, late night phone calls, and hanging out with Chanyeol and recently, Jongdae. Baekhyun always whines over the phone whenever the three of them hang out together, calling it unfair because he’s not there and they’d send him a picture over the e-mail to tease him.

The post cards are strange as they come: two boys sitting on a bench, a lunchbox, a colorful CD. He doesn’t know why Baekhyun always patiently draws all these but Kyungsoo keeps everything anyway.

It still hasn’t changed at all, the strange feeling that pulls in his stomach, and it comes whenever he and Baekhyun talk on the phone or because of a particularly cute postcard or just randomly remembering him in the middle of the day.

It’s stupid really, that Kyungsoo still feels it a few months later, even when Baekhyun is a country away, an ocean separating them. Over the phone, Kyungsoo can’t tell if Baekhyun feels the same way but… but sometimes he thinks Baekhyun does.

It’s in the little things: like his never-ending postcards, or the way he can hear Baekhyun’s voice bubble up in excitement whenever they talk on the phone, or the occasional “I miss you” text messages that makes Kyungsoo’s heart flip somehow.

Kyungsoo doesn’t know when he acknowledged this, that what was supposed to be a quick summer thing turned out into something more, but he knows that it’s too late for him to turn back. Baekhyun had pulled him in the first time he open the door for Kyungsoo.

Sometimes, Kyungsoo thinks he shouldn’t even have knocked in the first place. But he knows Baekhyun would still open it for him nevertheless, and that’s the reason why Kyungsoo is anchored to the strange feeling Kyungsoo gets for Baekhyun, and to the never-ending summer in in his chest.

 

Winter comes fast.

It’s marked by a drop in temperature and more layers of clothes. Kyungsoo is excited to come home, his bags all ready as he bids his goodbye to his friends. Ihwa-dong welcomes him back with a cool breeze and like the previous summer, his steps are light and the climb is easy. He slows down, however, to appreciate the artworks. There has been an influx of tourists lately, his mom had said, ever since their village was opened to the public last month.

There aren’t any tourists now because it’s a cold winter afternoon but Kyungsoo expects to see them in the morning. He puts down his bags on the porch and knocks on the door. He is reminded of Baekhyun opening the door for him and he pushes the image to the back of his mind, tries to ignore the fact that Baekhyun will be coming home in a week and the feeling in his chest.

This time, his mom opens the door for him. “Kyungsoo, sweetie!” she says, smile bright enough to melt the snow. “I missed you!”

His mother hugs him and he places all his bags inside, missing the warmth of his home. “When is Seungsoo-hyung coming home?” he asks, sitting on the couch.

“Next week too, I think,” his mother says. “Did you come home with Chanyeol?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says. “I came first because he has some stuff to do in Seoul until tomorrow. I’m meeting up with him the next day though.”

“Oh, that’s good!” she says. “How was uni?”

They stay in the living room for a while, chatting about the first semester and Seungsoo and their town that has now become a tourist spot. She says one of the tourists especially like Baekhyun’s artwork, and several people had taken a picture with it.

“When is Baekhyun coming home from Japan anyway? Have you been keeping contact?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “He’s returning to Korea next week.”

“Are you meeting up with him?”

Kyungsoo fumbles with the zipper of his bag, doesn’t meet his mother’s eyes. “I don’t know.”

The next day, he and Chanyeol meet up at Chanyeol’s mom’s café and she feeds Kyungsoo a lot of food, almost like a feast. He asks about Jongdae and Baekhyun and university and how she wishes Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went to the same university. Winter is also marked by Chanyeol’s mom’s hot chocolate special so they feast on that, laughing under the pale yellow lights, a recent change to the café’s interior design. Kyungsoo thinks it fits.

The days come by in a breeze, each night punctuated with a call from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo doesn’t notice it but he starts counting the days. Baekhyun asks to meet up with them in Seoul on a Saturday. Kyungsoo finds that he’s nervous, mind thinking up of many possibilities, but he doesn’t dwell too much on it and manages to not think about it too much until the day comes and he’s sitting on one of the couches of a hip restaurant in Seoul, picking on his salad.

It’s a cold winter out, but Baekhyun still looks like summer when he walks through the door.

The first thing Kyungsoo notices is that Baekhyun dyed his hair back to black and he stares at the sudden change. Baekhyun looks more… mature and attractive this way. If his pink hair made him look youthful and boyish, his black hair made him look ethereal in a way that reminds Kyungsoo of crystal moons in the horizon. His eyes zero in on Kyungsoo immediately when he spots them.

“Hey,” he grins. “Am I late?”

Chanyeol stands up to hug him as Kyungsoo sits quietly on the side, tucking his feet under the table, meeting Baekhyun’s eyes. “Aren’t you gonna hug me too?” Baekhyun teases him and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, cheeks definitely not coloring at that, because of course the first thing Baekhyun does after not seeing each other for so long is to tease him.

“Dream about it,” Kyungsoo says, but he is unable to stop his lips from forming into a smile. Baekhyun sits on the chair across the table and he smiles at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo chooses to stare at the velvet cushion behind Baekhyun’s head instead.

“You dyed your hair,” Kyungsoo says, because it’s in his line of sight and he just wants to comment on it. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, I dyed it recently,” Baekhyun says. “Two weeks ago I think?  You were going to see it anyway so.” He shrugs. “Do you like it?”

“It’s different.” That’s all he has to say. Different. It’s their thing now. Baekhyun beams.

They talk for a while, and Kyungsoo pretends not to notice that Baekhyun’s gaze lingers on him now and Kyungsoo starts noticing a lot more, like the mole above Baekhyun’s upper lip and his boxy smile and the tired bags under his eyes but he still looks good anyway.

Everything reminds Kyungsoo of certain things: Baekhyun going to his house every Thursday, the phone calls, the post cards still sitting neatly on his desk, the cryptic messages. He wonders why he still feels like this, after a few months, and he wonders if it’ll go away.

But then Baekhyun looks back at him and he thinks, fuck it, it doesn’t matter if it’ll go away in the future because what’s important is that he’s feeling it now and he kind of needs to do something about it. But reality and the coldness of winter anchor him to the ground somehow, and Kyungsoo wonders how he’ll untangle himself from it, from his own thoughts.

Jongdae comes and they all talk and ask Baekhyun about Japan. Kyungsoo feels Baekhyun’s eyes and his presence and his smile radiating across him the whole night.

 

A week later, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo tour the city with the January weather just the right type of cold.

Baekhyun had texted Kyungsoo in the morning, asking if Kyungsoo had stuff to do and if he was up for coming down to Seoul and just hanging out in the city. Kyungsoo had been lazing around then, having just finished his chores, when he received Baekhyun’s text.

“Let’s tour the city,” Baekhyun had said on the phone as Kyungsoo rode the bus. Kyungsoo had enumerated go-to malls and trendy restaurants and famous buildings he knew off the top of his head but Baekhyun had other things in mind.

“Show me your version of the city.”

So Kyungsoo does.

When they meet up at Hongdae, they go to hidden book cafes Kyungsoo has always wanted to try, scavenging through dusty book shelves and holding up the ones with funny titles. They look at random trinkets at thrift stores, and Baekhyun laughs at the bubble heads and toilet-shaped cereal bowls. Strange, just like him.

They watch a movie in its last week of showing at the downtown cinema and eat nachos with extra cheese instead of the typical popcorn. They eat ramen noodles and meat at cheap food shops. They window-shop at trendy streets and play with vinyl records on record shops. Kyungsoo buys Baekhyun his favorite album. Baekhyun buys Kyungsoo his favorite video game.

Actually putting their plans to action, after months and months of only talking on the phone and one whole summer of only meeting up at Kyungsoo’s house, it makes Kyungsoo feel happy somehow. When they wind down inside a café that afternoon, with an atmosphere that reminds them of Chanyeol’s mom’s café, Kyungsoo feels so overwhelmingly at ease yet giddy at the same time. He finds that wants to go on more trips with Baekhyun in the future.

“Why don’t you show me your version of the city next time?” Kyungsoo says.

Baekhyun hums, then his eyes light up as if he had just thought up the most brilliant idea. “Next time, sure.” He grins, and Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows at him.

They don’t talk about it anymore though. Instead, they count the number of blue cars that pass by on the street and listen to the rhythms beating on their chest, a strange sound after all these months that has Kyungsoo singing along.

 

Walls are splattered in a spectrum of colors—sunkist, vermillion, aquamarine, carnation pink—creating a plethora of street arts that can make the alley pass off as an art gallery. It’s a variety: elaborate artworks, random tags and words written in precise movements, a sticker here and there.

Kyungsoo stands on the side, waiting for Baekhyun, wondering if he got the address right and when Baekhyun will show up. At the empty pool far off, teenagers hang off the edge, legs dangling in a dance, loud voices echoing throughout the night. A couple others are skateboarding, falling, tripping. Some get up, others don’t.

“Hey.” Baekhyun comes around the corner with a familiar grin, wearing a plaid shirt and ripped jeans, dressed like one of those teenagers hanging off the ledge, hair freely being ruffled by the wind. “Did you wait for long?”

Kyungsoo has to look away from the way Baekhyun tilts his head at him.

“Yeah,” he says. “It’s freezing out here. I had a difficult time looking for this place. Why are we here anyway?”

“You asked me to show you my version of the city two days ago, didn’t you?” Baekhyun says, then slings an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Let’s go, then.”

They maneuver past colorful walls and Baekhyun points to each of them, blabbering on about how he found out about this place when he was new to Seoul and telling the story of how he learned to paint on these walls and one of the artworks is his and _you have to guess._

“C’mon.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Just tell me.”

Baekhyun shakes his head, pantomimes locking his mouth and dropping the key. Kyungsoo sighs. “Fine,” he says. “If I guess correctly, I win a prize.”

Baekhyun’s eyes glint. “What prize?”

Kyungsoo hums. “I’ll think about it.”

Baekhyun trails off behind him, uncharacteristically quiet. These walls remind him of Ihwa-dong somehow, and he tells himself to invite Baekhyun back to his house sometime because his mom had been missing him.

Kyungsoo had seen the influx of tourists beside their house the first time, his first day of Winter break in Seoul, and he’d seen how they’d appreciated Baekhyun’s art and  honestly, Kyungsoo had been so proud, unable to stop his grin.

He looks at each of the artwork, wondering which one of them might be Baekhyun’s and if they passed by it already. The first wall is an artwork of a boy covered in roses, the vines crawling on his body. The second one are four, pink androids standing in a line. The third is a huge drawing of a blue shark, its mouth open, poised to eat. On the background are hypnotizing lines of red.

They walk deeper in the alley, Kyungsoo carefully looking at artworks. He asks Baekhyun for clues but Baekhyun just shrugs at him, smiles almost nervously. Kyungsoo just sighs.

Suddenly, they come across an artwork of two people kissing, one with pink hair and the other with a darker one. The press of their mouths is covered with a rose but anyone could understand what they’re doing.

Both are boys.

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Kyungsoo’s heart starts beating fast in his chest, not knowing what to say, what to think, or if this even is Baekhyun’s artwork in the first place. It doesn’t take up the whole wall, only half of it, but it’s clear in Kyungsoo’s eyes anyway as the lamp post flickers above them. The artwork appears to be stenciled, done in a rush, but the colors and figures looking beautiful as ever nevertheless.

“Is this yours?” he swallows, turning to look at Baekhyun. His heart leaps to his throat when he realizes Baekhyun has been looking all this time.

Baekhyun smiles, still nervously, but in a teasing manner. “What do you think?”

“Fuck what I think, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says. “Are you going to answer my question or are we just gonna stand here and stare at each other?”

“I don’t mind doing the latter, actually,” Baekhyun laughs, voice scratchy. “Have you thought of your prize now?

“Yeah, I have.” And Kyungsoo isn’t thinking when he steps in and kisses Baekhyun. In fact, his brain can’t think at all when Baekhyun starts moving his lips against Kyungsoo’s.

Everything makes sense now: the artworks, the lingering gazes, the phone calls, the postcards. Kyungsoo hadn’t been too stupid to realize but he really didn’t want to expect much, because they may mean other things after all.

But now, now the pieces come together, falling perfectly. He places his arms around Baekhyun, wondering how long Baekhyun had wanted to do this, and if he’s serious about this, and what’s going to happen after this, but it doesn’t matter now. Now, all that he needs to think of is the insistent press of Baekhyun’s lips against his, asking him to open up and Kyungsoo, heart soft and so full, yields and lets go.

 

“I never knew the drawings on the post cards had a pattern though,” Kyungsoo says when they wind down on Kyungsoo’s porch later that night. Baekhyun will be sleeping over tonight and sure, they still have to hide the intertwining of their hands from his mother and they still have to talk about what will happen to them but that can wait, they have all the time and they’ll have more summers to do it.

“Yeah?” Baekhyun laughs, raising his head from where it’s leaning on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Well you know now. The house, then the noodles, then the university street, then the park, the CD, everything is in order.” He smiles at Kyungsoo. “I still remember.”

“When’d you start liking me anyway?” Kyungsoo mumbles but Baekhyun hears it.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Baekhyun says. “I thought you were cute the first day but never actually realized I might have liked you until that one time in the café when Jongdae made me realize I actually don’t mind painting in your presence. I preferred being alone but I allowed myself to get distracted by you.”

“So, I’m a distraction then?” Kyungsoo teases.

“A good one.” Baekhyun pecks his lips, the second kiss he stole from Kyungsoo now. Kyungsoo gawks as Baekhyun grins. “How about you?”

“Probably that time you slept over?” Kyungsoo says. “But I only started feeling weird around you then. I think it’s probably because of the postcards and phone calls while you were in Japan.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder, is that it?” Baekhyun grins.

“That’s it,” Kyungsoo laughs. “I haven’t said this enough but thank you for all the artworks, Baekhyun. The doodle. The eyes. The stencil. It’s… I appreciate them all, really. You’re a great artist, remember that.”

“You know what they say,” Baekhyun says. “Some people are artists, and some people are art themselves. You're one of the inspirations.” Then Baekhyun looks at him with so much adoration that has Kyungsoo looking away with a smile, trying to ignore Baekhyun’s lips pressing against his cheek playfully.

They wait for Kyungsoo’s mom to come home and watch the moon illuminating the sky above, light filtered by the clouds. There aren’t any stars in the sky and Kyungsoo remembers his grandmother say that it’s going to rain if he doesn’t see any stars dotting around. So Kyungsoo pulls Baekhyun up, leads him back inside, where there is warmth and good light.

Baekhyun’s kisses remind him of summer. It reminds him of blue skies and crystal suns and laughter that’s always there. It reminds him of late night phone calls and lemonades and art and postcards. It’s the kiss of sunsets on wispy horizons, a reminder, always, that he'll be there to come back.

**Author's Note:**

> if you've gotten here to the very end, i'd like to thank you again <3


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